Pheromone
by Terri Leinn Vie
Summary: Modern AU. What is it that attracts people to each other? Nature or Nuture? Isn't Sakura the lucky girl to be the case study of Dr. Orochimaru? Multi x Sakura. Dark plot
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Standard one applied.

Warning: Curses and bad language.

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**Prologue**

It was decidedly a bad day for all of them, Jiraiya thought as both Tsunade and Orochimaru were downing champagne and ancient wine as one would do with water, not million dollars worth alcohol.

"He's a fucking arsehole." Tsunade declared at last, after a period of unnerve silence and Jiraiya did have to agree with her observation. Her latest boy toy was a cocky, arrogant and too young nightmare.

"She's a god damned bitch." Orochimaru bitterly growled and judging from the billions of dollars his latest wife had caved from him from a single divorce, Jiraiya thought he had a point.

"How dare he fucking whore around? To even frenching that Terumi cow in front of me! Urgh. How gross!" Jiraiya wondered if he should point out that it was only a perk in the cheek and they did nothing but pose in front of photos. After all, the guy was an ambitious little arsehole but Jiraiya knew if he stooped low enough to date women tripled his youth, such arsehole might not just passing out perks after all.

"Talk about revolting, _I_ caught her shagging a bastard half her bloody age." Orochimaru downed double shots in one gulp. Jiraiya believed that his best friend wouldn't bitch this much if that bastard hadn't turned out to be one of his brilliant projects. It's a shame really. That Shin whathisname was talented. Jiraiya had intended to air him in his drama.

"And he even dared to hit on Shizune! My fucking niece!" Jiraiya thought he caught them in one of their act just last week, when Tsunade was still hung on such arsehole and nodded in pity. Shizune looked as if God had descended to save her from the savage beast, which wasn't that far from truth.

"Just that? Kabuto keeps bringing up the resigned letter after each shopping trips that shameless slut spent with him. That fucking molester." Jiraiya wouldn't mind having those private shopping experiences with Orochimaru's wife. She's the year's It girl – stunning, lithe as an island cat and ten years their junior. Tsunade had even once reluctant admitted that the girl was a bloody beauty.

"I bet he would even whore for that plastic surgery new face." Tsunade sneered, but Jiraiya knew she was nostalgia. In their days, when men were indeed gentlemen and women were truly ladies, no man would dream of cheating on Tsunade, or lady on Orochimaru. It's always the other way around.

"We're too old for them." He spoke his mind for the first times but he wished he had not. They would have murdered him in ten different ways if they knew how to dispose a corpse in a lawful way.

Orochimaru, however drunk as he was, wasn't a shallow thinker. He sighed, even after socking Jiraiya ten times in the same spot. "The game is changing. In this difficult, cold world, bulls and steers are separated and those that survived are all alpha bulls."

"Gone were well-bred, chivalry, educated gentleman." Tsunade hiccupped. "Gone was the fucking true generation of men and dignity."

"And elegant, civic-minded young ladies." Orochimaru added. "All the "socials" nowadays are desperate power-hungry spotlight-whore."

"Parasites on our money and uhm, pity." Jiraiya helpfully supplied, as he steered the half empty champagne bottle behind his seat and tipped it over a pot nearby. Although, such plant didn't deserve to drink up the millions worth of liquid, both of his friends looked deadly smashed and the last thing they needed were more of these wines. He was already dreading the part of going home.

"This world has gone fucking wrong!" Tsunade raised her voice and a few of customers glanced their ways. Jiraiya flipped them the birds and they knew him enough to take it's serious that he would remember their faces and the next time they saw him, they would be just nobody peasants instead of Hollywood celebrities they were this night. Jiraiya turned back to his friends once those nosy neighbors meekly returned to their businesses.

"I agree." Orochimaru nodded vigorously.

Which is a bloody rare event and both of his friends must be highly intoxicated because they symbolized black and white in this world and if they ever had the same idea on any thing, it meant genius was soon to be born, or disaster was soon to descent upon Five Great Kingdoms.

"Would you like more Champagne, Sir?"

"No, thanks." Jiraiya quickly jumped in before any unwanted order was delivered. They would thank him tomorrow, he thought, as Orochimaru seemed annoyed enough to chew his head.

"What's your name?" Tsunade suddenly peered at the new bartender, whom Jiraiya hadn't noticed as good-looking until then, with the half cool half flirtatious smile she was sure to win even James Bond over.

"A professional bartender knows not to disclose his personal information, madam." The guy – must be around early twenties – replied with an obvious fake smile.

"What if I want to know you in the non-professional level?" Tsunade closed in huskily and Jiraiya knew she was displaying her amazing curves over the table, with both arms under her busty breasts and red lips curled in an invited come-hither smile.

"My friend said you're the most amazing actress of our times." The bartender confessed, although the fake smile was still there but he was looking in her eyes and Tsunade was sucker for compliments. "She fails to imply that you're an outrageous flirt, though."

Jiraiya knew that tone indicated no nice meaning but Tsunade was smashed and she was lonely after the terrible break up and she was a woman with needs after all.

"May be this friend of yours fails to imply that I'm also an adventurous woman?" Her red nails drew slow circles on his bare skin and the bartender's fake smile fell slightly. His gaze on her darkened although he retreated his arm politely.

She was not his type, Jiraiya could conclude. He had years of courting women to know such basic rules.

"I do not think it's wise for you to stay. You're very drunk and it's dangerous for a lady to stay drunk this late." The bartender announced, backing up warily as Tsunade continued to advance with a predatory gleam in her eyes. Jiraiya grabbed her shoulder before she could climb over the bar. They did have witnesses and no amount of money could erase the crime of rape.

"There, there. Easy, tiger." Jiraiya soothed, almost busting out laughing at the disturbed face of the young bartender.

"Cutie. Wanna go home with me?" She slurred, words tangled and eyes hungry, but she was leaning against Jiraiya and he had to remind himself that they were only friends. Friends meant no leaving drunken friend with a perfect stranger, despite how attracted your friend to this handsome stranger was.

"I'm sorry. She's a scandalous drunk, but she means no harm." Jiraiya said to the young man, whose fake smile stayed firm throughout the episode and increased in voltages as Jiraiya started to gather their belongings.

"It's, by no mean, a nuisance, Sir. Although, I'd advice you to hail a cab right now. The weather is horrible." The bartender said conversably, as if more at ease with an old man than an intoxicated, lusty and beautiful woman, which made Jiraiya wondered if this young man was on the other fence.

"I'll be fine. Thank you, young lad. Orochimaru, get up you ass, man. We're moving." Jiraiya knocked on his other friend's head and the pale man growled low. He stood, but still cradled the whiskey bottle like his alcoholic child. Jiraiya had to wrestle the bottle away and suffered more than 5 bite marks on his arm.

They'd thank him tomorrow, Jiraiya reminded himself as he heaved a singing Tsunade and a cussing Orochimaru out the door and into the storm.

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**A/N:** Thank you for reading. I'm on my way to chapter 3 so the next update should be around next week. Also, if anyone is interested in beta-reading my work, p.m me, ok? I really need a helping hand to edit my works.

Truly, truly sorry. I'm in a hurry with this chapter. Well, I have edited the title, so if you found any other mistakes, please let me know. Thank you.

Reviews are my inspirations. Hope you enjoy so far. See ya.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer**:**Standard one applies.

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**Chapter 1**

Sakura was not what anyone would call a kind woman. She was too weak-minded, too easy to be riled and Sakura hated herself for her uncontrollable mouth. Everything would have worked out fine, her presentation, her job interviews and her life, if she had different genes and different personality.

"Bloody weather." Sakura muttered as she hurriedly crossing the street for the yellow cab she had spots minutes ago. The rain drenched her too skimpy pink dress and made it ten times more uncomfortable. She should have gone with casual jean and white blouse. Only, she had thought pink would draw more attention to herself and this dress which hugged curves would make her look sexy, like Angeline Jolish or someone with similar name Naruto had thought as Sex Goddess.

Sai had believed she was a walking catastrophe of fashion when she had dragged both Naruto and him to the store where she bough her dress for $19.99.

"Even I can tell that you look ways better in that silver one, Sakura." Naruto had said skeptically next to an empty seat. Sai had declared he would suffer trauma if he breathed the same air with her – the shame of human being - and was waiting for them outside.

Sakura had smoothed her frilly pink dress, while glancing longingly at the one Naruto was also staring at. It was smooth and simple, but Sai had insisted that she would look elegant in it and that the soft color complimented her dark eyes and bright hair.

He thought she didn't know that? She might be a nerdy geek, but she knew what to wear when occasions called for it. However, the rent due day was near and school fee of a medical student from ANBU university wasn't easy to chew.

Why couldn't that bloody party have allowed jean? Sakura seethed. This meant sexism. Man was allowed to wear suit and even though there might be subtle difference between a cheap and an expensive one, Naruto hadn't stood out that much. He had been able to laugh and dance and have fun with his future wife, Hinata while Sakura was miserable and unhappy and discontent next to Lee, the only other loner in the wild party.

Sure, she had smiled at his jokes and politely danced with him to a few songs (she might not like him but she had manners!) but what she craved for was Sasuke Uchiha, who was tall, aristocratically handsome, cutthoart robber barons and most importantly, he was a respected scholar, a Havard man, a thinker. The fact that he's massively loaded had crossed her mind but she believed she loved him for his intelligence, not his money, as tempting as it was.

Just when she arrived at the entrance, Sakura had abandoned Naruto to Hinata and had torn through the crowd of girls to reach her future-husband, only to find her ex-best friend hanging all over him.

Ino Yamanaka, pixie-beauty and just a few steps from It girl of Konoha, had smiled at Sakura, with her arms around Sasuke's and breasts shamelessly pressed to his skin. "Hi there, forehead."

Sakura pointedly ignored the sly wench, instead, chose to pour her intense admiration gaze on the gorgeous Uchiha. "Good evening, Sasuke Kun. You look nice." Not that he was ever not nice-looking, she wanted to add but too nervous to utter the words.

He granted her a nod of recognition and Sakura felt her heart skipped several steps. The fact that he remarked she looked like a birthday cake was brushed aside and generously forgiven by his husky voice, the kind of sound that you could almost taste and if you did, it would be as sweet as dark chocolate itself.

Sakura Haruno was in blessed heaven with Sasuke Uchiha as God (and Ino as his annoyed parrot, or something like that), until a red head shoved her and she was a bit distracted by the way Sasuke's hair hang over his eyes to regain enough balance. It was not her fault that some stupid cow had not had a foresight to put the table filled of curry far from her spot.

As Sakura fell, she frantically tried to grab something and not making a complete fool of herself in front of the dignify Uchiha and her most dangerous rival. It must have been Ino's plan, Sakura thought darkly, even though Naruto pointed out that Ino wouldn't be able to predict Sakura would clutch and drag the table's cloth and the food on top of it to the floor and to her hair.

If that's not completely humiliated, Sakura didn't know what. The Channel sample perfume she had saved for the event was a completely waste as everywhere she went; beef curry scent followed like grim death.

Sakura had not cried then, just quickly dashed away from the laughing ground and to the girl bathroom with no one but Naruto on her heels. He was a great friend, Naruto was, Sakura thought fondly. Almost too nice for a selfish girl like her.

"Get the fuck out of my sight!" Sakura snapped at him as she washed her face in the sink. Embarrassment and anger and self-hatred swirled and knotted her gut to a queasy mess.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I wasn't fast eno-" Naruto began and Sakura wheeled on him.

"That's right! Why didn't you stay by my side? If you didn't drooled all over that Huyga chick, you could have saved me from being the fool of this fucking year!" She shouted, didn't care that other girls were throwing both Naruto and her disgusted glares. She didn't registered they were still in the bathroom because the urge to hurt someone, to make them feel as miserable and angry at her was vast.

"I said I'm sorry." Naruto managed patiently, stepping toward her but Sakura shoved him away. She hadn't meant to put much force in it but the sight of Naruto grunting in pain as his shoulder slammed to the wall brought a guilty sense of satisfaction. Sakura hated herself.

"Go away." She hissed, feeling worse and worse at each passing seconds. Naruto should know her better than to show such blatant look of pity.

"I'm sure they will forget it soon enough, Sakura." Naruto didn't move from the wall but a comforting smile etched across his scared face.

"But I won't! Ino won't! Sasuke Kun won't!" Sakura almost shouted in his face. She took a shaky breath, remembering all those anticipation, all the excitement, all the dreams and dances and confessions of love Sasuke would have had with her, if that stupid red head ho hadn't ruined everything!

"Do you realize that I just destroy my entire life and any decent romantic interest?" Sakura whispered, leaning against the sink tiredly. "I've put so much effort. Tan my skin. Curl my hair. Money for this dress, shoes, ear rings and even a waxing. All those god damned efforts. And now, all anybody will be talking about is how some fat-asses bimbo broke the fucking table and flashed her Spanx to the entire crowd!"

Naruto laughed softly. "You're just blowing things off the proportion, Sakura."

"I'm not you, Naruto! I don't want to be a _loser_ for the rest of my life!" Sakura snapped, almost regretting her words as soon as the stiffen look of fury crossed Naruto's usual cheery face.

Her best friend drew in a sharp breath. "Ino was right when she stopped talking to you, Sakura." His darkened gaze turned almost poisonous. "You are always a coward."

"Fuck off!"

And he did. Sakura threw off in a toilet and she almost wished Naruto was back to held her hair and rubbing her back and understood that she always said stupid things when she's embarrassed and angry.

He was her best friend. He should have known that.

Only, she had crossed some lines and Sakura wondered why her rotten mouth couldn't seem to stop driving everyone around her away.

And bad lucks just seemed to be madly in love with her.

When she reached the station, Sakura was thrashed by a heavy flood of people exiting onto the street. "Flood," an old man in a Mets cap told her. "Trains aren't running. Don't bother."

She should have been picked up by Sasuke after the party, or in the middle of the party to an expensive, luxury restaurant and having a night of her life with him gazing lovingly to her eyes and she did the same. She would be warm, happy and full of love, not cold, drenched and full of resentment.

Sakura, though dreamy one as she was, knew such fantasy would never happen. But a girl had a right to hope and anyway, if that stupid accident didn't happen and that fucking red haired bitch didn't slam into her, the argument would never occur and she would still have Naruto.

She hated red head now even worse than she hated hippies, which meant a lot if someone knew Sakura had heard.

_Humiliated,__friendless__and__now,__forced__to__fight__a__cab._Sakura considered dialing Sai but she was in a sour mood and she was worried that her rotten mouth would slip something up again. Sai might not be as important to her as Naruto or Ino once had been, but he was her only other friend and despite those laid-back attitude, she knew he's sensitive about lots of things.

Hell, all of them are. She's the worst and she felt an overwhelming urge to call Naruto and pled and begged and did anything so he could take her back. But Sakura had too much pride and blast it, Naruto had always forgiven her before. It's how they worked. She's an aggressive know-it-all. Sai's a rude mouth-off bastard and Naruto would do anything Sakura wanted.

But not after she just hurt him and he was having a life time with Hinata.

She'd never mastered the bus routine, and during a torrential downpour on the worst night of her life didn't seem like the time to try. The street was crowded with cab competition so she decided she would have better luck up north and headed down the fifthe Avenue.

By the time she reached Fifth and then down to 60th, she felt and must look like some one who had jumped in a swimming pool, and came out with half the pool absorbed in her clothes. The orange jumper clung to her skins and she was trembling and no luck seemed to come her way. She'd almost given up hope when she saw a dim light in the distance moving down Fifth toward her.

The light glowed like a coded signal for: _Home,__plus__warm__meals,__plus__warm__bath,__plus__beds__and__extra__nice,__lovely__coffee._ She waved frantically for it, almost hurling her body across the cab. The cabbie caught her and pulled over just steps away.

But before she reached the back door, another guy dashed passed her – unseen behind his umbrella – grabbed the door handle and slid smoothly into the back seat.

"Excuse me?" Sakura was amazed she's still able to be polite. The audacity of this taxi theft! "This is my cab! I've took me ages to find one-"

"Move." The umbrella collapsed to reveal a man in his early twenties, smoking grassy eyes, tattoo on the forehead and a flaming head of fiery red. He looked expensive and vaguely familiar, and he glared at her as in a silent "Piss off, imbecile" as he slammed the door in Sakura's face.

Red Head is now a taboo in Sakura's black list.

If she was to catch a fatal case of pneumonia, Sakura wouldn't be surprised. It had been that sort of night and she grudgingly strode along the street, feverishly searching for another sight of code signal _Home_ light.

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"Oh, God! You two better be grateful that I have two hands!" Jiraiya must be saying something retarded like that but Orochimaru was too busy puking his intestines out to notice. That's why he hates alcohol. The pleasure was too short, and left all kind of suffering consequences.

"God damned all the fucking men." Tsunade groaned next to him and he felt a stab of insults.

"Women are trashes, good for nothing by their holes and eggs." He knew it's childish and Tsunade hadn't meant him but all in all, Orochimaru was still a man and in his opinion, a woman who stepped into man's line of work was nothing but despicable nuisance, even if Tsunade had been an exception.

"You didn't say what I had imaged you just said." Tsunade shot him a look of deep shock and there was a threatening aura coiling around her which would usually shut the conscious Orochimaru but now, only provoking drunken Orochimaru more.

"I said, women are trashes. Sly and cunning and money-hungry." He sneered.

"Shut you mouth, fucking son of a bitch." Tsunade hissed, advancing on him and still looked menacingly despite her state of wavering consciousness. Her emerald eyes gleamed with fury. "Men are all power-hungry, manipulative and lust-driven arsehole."

Orochimaru snorted. "Women are all filthy liars. They would whore for fame, for money, for fashion."

"Men are arrogant pig with dick for brain." Tsunade spat, and Orochimaru quacked Jiraiya out of the way.

"Women are greedy leech with unrealistic mind. They should have stayed at home, being a fucking housewife!" He was angry and hurt and betrayed and he didn't seem to grasp the control of his mouth anymore.

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya's piercing shout broke in for the first time.

There was still surprised in Tsunade's pose, as if her intoxicated brain was trying to make out words and once it absorbed the meaning behind those words, Tsunade's face turned into a knowing, disappointed expression. "You said it." The sad, almost wistful sigh turned into a malicious scowl. "You're a sexist, impossible stupid bastard! Your fucking wife was right to cheat on your skinny ass!"

"I see why your boy toy is so eager to smother other women. You're a moody god damned bitch, who thinks she knows every god damned things!" Orochimaru snarled.

"Alright. Enough is enough." Jiraiya slapped Orochimaru in the back. The force was strong enough to send his head diving to a telephone booth and stars exploded behind his lids with pain.

"You fucking arsehole." He whimpered. "If I wake up tomorrow with less IQ than I have today, I'm going to cram your fucking organs, Jiraiya."

"You deserved it, bastard." Tsunade sounded cheerful again, and she was singing, clearly forgot what had just been said. Jiraiya offered a hand and a smile but Orochimaru just glared at him, getting up oh his own.

His expensive clothes were all wet and muddy. He hated rain and its bloody filth. Purify his ass.

Orochimaru took a bit of comfort in the fact that Tsunade's _prada_ shoes would have to be thrown away once this night was over. The small satisfaction dispersed as soon as he realized those high heels were his present for her 40th birthday. No wonder he had found them as the most tasteful shoes Tsunade had worn for years. 

"Hey, why are you wear-" His sentence was cut short by the shock of seeing her slipping off one of those expensive _prada_ and aimed them into the air- as Orochimaru followed his present, he realized that she had just used his thousands dollar shoe to defile a ten dollars worth of poster.

"You deserve it, bastard!" Tsunade shouted at the current toothless poster of her ex- boy toy vigorously. Jiraiya was laughing and Orochimaru allowed a reluctant lift of mouth. It had not been _that_ funny, dammit! Must be the alcohol and this stupid rain. 

"I'd have done the same for your wife." Tsunade told him gravely, handing over her other shoe. "Figure I should let you do the honor though."

Tsunade's make up face, which was usually flawless, now exposed with chemical substances and she looked ugly. She looked her ages. But Orochimaru took her shoe/ his present and swung the fortune worth into his bitch of a wife's plastic nose.

Unfortunately, the poster was in front of something harder than air like Tsunade's boy toy's one and it bounced off and down a human walking carrot. Oh, well, at least, she's noseless now.

"Ouch! What the fuck is wrong with this fucking night!" He wondered if the sharp heel had poked the skull. The crude and annoying volume of whining made it sounded like the walking tomato was brained by Tsunade's shoe.

"See what I mean about woman?" Orochimaru smirked triumphantly at the scowling Tsunade, who was glaring back and forth from the girl to him before settling on the girl, who richly deserved it and scowled harder.

The girl wheeled on them, a rather frightened sight he must add. He heard Tsunade gasped. "What is it she's wearing? _Scandalous_!"

If there was something Tsunade hated more than life, it's a girl who wore man's clothes. The orange hoodie twice human size might have been a tattered piece of underwear for all Tsunade cared. Jiraiya was muttering something about "impossible" and when Orochimaru followed his gaze, he knew what his best friend was on about.

It was taboo for a dinning dress (it didn't look like one but he could assume so) to go with sandal. Plastic. Sandal.

"This is a horrible, horrible night." Tsunade declared dramatically, leaning against Jiraiya. "I just saw the cause of my death."

"I've lost the next five year appetite." Orochimaru added, huddled close to his own kinds so if whatever disease this walking carrot carried was contagious, he would have hospital-mates.

"What are you people talking about?" The carrot squinted at them, face pale and grim. "Anyway, whose shoe is this?" She was waving his present as if it was a vile, dead thing which ought to be burnt in hell for its existence.

"It shall be my happiest day to see either of you in my _prada_ heels." Tsunade giggled in Jiraiya's arm and Orochimaru wondered if the carrot had plant brain cells instead of humane one.

"Well, you should shove this fucking heel up your ass to know how much it's fucking hurt." She smacked the heel right down the ground and stormed away.

Orochimaru could hardly care about the girl's feelings. But Jiraiya was next to him and being a stupid being with stupid brain, he opened his mouth. "You know, that girl would be a perfect sample for your experiment, Orochimaru."

"Sample?" Tsunade piped, glancing around for cabs. "Experiment? Don't tell me you're searching for an immortal drug, Oro." He hated being called Oro, which sounded like a fucking brand of cheap cookies and what if he wanted to live forever? Someone as remarkable as him, who was a millionaire and lead lion of the pack, deserved that privilege.

"Nah. He wishes!" Jiraiya laughed, but he winked at Orochimaru. _He_ understood, Orochimaru thought, and lowered his brittle defensive glare. His best friend ranted on. "But this thing he's going to do is amazing as well. He's going to write a book and his book is going to be my inspiration for my next top of the century movie!"

This was new. "_Excuse__me?__"_ Jiraiya better hadn't had food poisoning. "That's rubbish! I hate your movie, Jiraiya! It ruins all the appropriate turns and twists in any decent book!"

Jiraiya winced. "But I like the idea! It would make hundreds of millions dollars! It would be legendary!"

Orochimaru shot him an unimpressed look while Tsunade hovered in the background, sneezing. "Alright, gentlemen. Could you do I a favor and just spill the beans? What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Second Tsunade." Orochimaru announced. "That's my project."

"Our." Jiraiya corrected about the same time Tsunade blurted. "You are fucking insane."

"Jiraiya, it's mine so budge off. Tsunade, Jiraiya told me the same thing when I said you'd be my project." He shot her the look. "See how insane you turn out?"

"You don't know how much I regret being you project." Tsunade said, crossing her arms under her busty breasts. "I felt like carrying two fucking mountains everyday since you injected that bloody something into me."

"Modified Oestrogen." Orochimaru couldn't understand women and their ungratefulness. "Your chest used to be flatter than mine. Now, it's the eighth wonder of the world. What are you complaining about?"

"True." Jiraiya agreed heartily and Tsunade shot him a glare to quiet his obvious swooning.

"What I'm talking about was the aftermath. That bloody book."

Orochimaru replied. "It's one of my greatest works." His best actually.

"You're a fucking prick with no sense of sensitive or kindness. Do you know how much I suffer after you exposed me as one of your fucking experiment and my body is a result of high-classed biochemical technology?" Tsunade was pressing forward with a sharp gleam in her eyes but Orochimaru stubbornly held his ground.

"But isn't that rising popularity earned you trillions of dollars? You're practically a legend since that day. You are here because of those breasts and my bloody book."

"There is something called ethic, Orochimaru." Tsunade said, voice wistful and Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm stuck as a fraud all of my life. Even if I'm desirable and my figure is a world wonder, people never respected me for my beauty, for being me. I was never called a real woman after that bloody book published."

Orochimaru thought about the day Jiraiya and him found the first subject- the first other best friend to them. She was just a wild short of Amazon warrior that day, short hair, vulgar words. A woman with too many elbows and who had lost the will for love and lived for nothing but ugly purposes.

Now, she was the queen of the Hollywood. The alpha female everyone looked up to. She achieved what she wanted and she's happy. The evidence that he's a living genius.

But it had been more than twenty years since his success and people were starting to forget that his talent could change life. They started to prefer younger, cheaper beauty products of some rising companies. They read public works an books from some other doctor when his were left to gather dusts on the shelves. He didn't tell Jiraiya and Tsunade that his company was starting to lose profits with the changing time. They didn't need to pity him.

Pity he might not accept, but their aids? Jiraiya was the top director. His movie had influences in a worldwide direction. He knew human's psychology and the proper manners more than even the best psychiatric of America. Tsunade, although lacking in the behavior area, was an expert in seduction and the elite life of Konoha. She was the best instructor any It girl wannabe could want.

And him? Orochimaru smirked. He's genius.

Best of all, he had a power of God. Just one drop of his magical potion, even that walking carrot would surpass Tsunade, in both beauty and rank. In fact, Jiraiya was right. A girl whom you wouldn't spare a second glance. A girl whom you wouldn't think as a woman. A truly ugly, unfashionable girl would make a more interest subject for public.

"Tsunade, you remember her face, I assume?"

The woman scowled. "I'm not going to be dragged in this crazy mess. Leave me out."

"Do you want me to re-publish the book with details of certain something you've begged me to leave out?"

"You wouldn't!" Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya for help, but the other just shrugged. She raised her eyes to heaven. "Men are all fucking manipulative bastards."

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A/N: Thank you for reading. Hope you like it. I'm all excited about the reviews, which pushed me to public this chapter before its due day (next Monday).

Alright. See you next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Standard one applies.

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**Chapter 2:**

A comforting palm pressed to her forehead. Gentle and familiar. "You awake, Sakura?"

"I'm in hell." She declared, clutching her spinning head. "My body aches. My throat sores. A migraine in my head and hell, this is all a fucking nightmare." Sakura groaned.

"A fever of 40 degrees. You should be ashamed of yourself, Sakura Chan." Naruto said sternly but any effect was ruined by his wavering pout. "A doctor who can't take care of herself? I fear for the next generation's future."

"Stop talking craps, Naruto." Sakura growled, wincing as her voice came out hoarse and left unbelievable pain. "All those cheesy chick flicks are getting to your head."

"Me? I was called last night by a nurse, telling me someone found your ass in the rain, dead to the world and was escorted to the hospital by the ambulance." Naruto poked her in the forehead. "Who is a drama queen again?"

"I'm in the hospital?" The smell and the surroundings should have given Sakura clues since she opened her eyes. "Hand me my specs. I can't see anything."

"No way, Sherlock." Naruto sighed, settling down on the chair beside the bed and picking up an apple to peel as Sakura slipped in her glass and felt much more confident. "Sai just left. His lecture started like ten minutes ago."

Sakura glanced to the lock nearby. It was 3 in the afternoon. "Don't you have a date with Hinata?" He had been excited and all nervous since last week about their date. It's just a damn movie, Sakura had thought but now, watching Naruto's face, she felt like she had dragged him off his own wedding.

Naruto scowled at his apple. "I can't leave you alone. You would make a fuss if I left."

"Oi. I'm no kiddo." Sakura tried to joke but it felt flat. She felt like a kid because she would throw a tantrum if she woke up in a hospital and found Naruto was not by her side, because he had a date with _Hinata_.

"Bring me the coffee." Sakura demanded, finding it's hard to think without her usual dose of caffeine. "No sugar."

"If you drink less of this stuff," Naruto made a face as he passed her the bottle of fresh coffee he must have brewed at home. "I believe you won't have to put yogurt on your face every night. A damn waste of food."

"Shut up. It's my money." Sakura drained the container in three large gulps. Her throat felt less itchy with the sooth of coffee. "And you will put down 5 kg without three burgers a day, idiot."

"Touché." Naruto beamed.

"_Touché_. Your French is horrible." Sakura grinned.

"Well, my French kiss, according to majority, is incredible." Naruto boasted, making kissing noise with the pillow he had snatched from Sakura's head. She smacked him on the head and commanded him to puff the pillow.

"You sucks major at being smooth, Naruto. It's hurt me to think what a joke you'd be in front of Hinata." Sakura stole a piece of apple.

"She…" Naruto's smile slid off to be replaced by a frown. "You're right. Lately, she only smiles _politely_ at my jokes. Only smiles! Even at that _Green_ _Dolphin_ one! I must be the lamest ass ever! She's going to dump me soon!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're a retard, Naruto. I won't laugh my head off in front of Sasuke, even if he said something real funny, which of course, he always does."

"He does?" Naruto asked genuinely but Sakura ignored him.

"Hinata is a girl and she's in love with – wait for it – you!" When Naruto looked as if he was going to point out that he knew it all and wasn't she a Sherlock, Sakura hurriedly continued. "Of course she'll be the all lady-like, feminine model of all ladies. Good girl image. Perfect lover and wife. Have you ever considered she might snort whenever she laughs?"

"You do and I don't mind."

Sakura decided to take this light-hearted. Part because he was here with her instead of his future wife.

"I shall repeat. Naruto, you're a retard. It's not about you. It's about her! You guys aren't at the stage where you could shit in each other presence yet, ok? You're, like, in the honeymoon stage! Give the girl a rest. I'm sure she'll come around."

"I should mention that you always shit when I take a shower but… I'm not sure, Sakura." Naruto handed Sakura the whole plate to spare her the chore of reaching out of her bed and snatched one piece at a time. "Hinata is like, I don't know, very pure. She's so... fragile. I couldn't be myself."

"You will be. She has seen you before she asked you out and she's the one that chased after you, not the other way around. You weren't, aren't and will never be a peach, if you know what I mean." Sakura chewed thoughtfully. "Hinata's not a fool. She must see something deep, deep, _deep_ inside you, through all those layers of fat, bad clothes and weirdo hair."

"Sakura, I'm big bone! Not fat!" Sakura wondered if she should accuse him of stealing Chouji's line but decided against it.

"Whatever. She likes you as a loser. Be that way." Sakura finalized, before biting her lips. Now that she had mentioned the L word, might as well get it out of the way. The elephant had been in the corner for the whole hour. "Look, Naruto. About last night…"

"You were stupid and be your usual bitch self. No big deal. I can't even remember what we were on about." Naruto patted her head and she leaned against it a bit.

"Short-spanned memory. You should get that check. Might lead to Alzheimer soon." Sakura suggested cheerily.

Naruto threaded fingers through her dry, dry hair before wrestling with a particular stubborn knot on his way. "You should at least comb your hair, Sakura. It's like the Amazon jungle in here!"

"Leave it alone. I'm too tired for your fashion tips, sir Bush fire for hair." Sakura shot a meaningful look at Naruto's spiky top and he scowled at her.

"Hinata loves my wild style."

"Oh, please. She's an exception." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I mean, look at you! Chubby like a cupid. Hair like a war zone with only thorn left. Clothes the color of rainbow."

"Sai said us two made a good duo, like a bad hair twins." Naruto smiled.

"Sai is an arsehole with dick for brain." Sakura waved it away. "Look, when could I get out of this place? I want my Brad Pitt's duvet, not this blank, boring one!"

"Your fever, remember?"

"Juice and food and a nap in my Brad Pitt's duvet would be enough." Sakura pointed out. "Come on, get me home!"

"Can't do. You're sick and at home, I can't watch you 24/7! What if you hungry or thirsty or-"

"I'm sick. Not disable, you retard." Sakura snapped. "Now shut up and do the paperwork. I will change myself."

"I'm serious, Sakura." Naruto was determined. "I don't want you to be home."

"Why? You want some private chat in the bed with Hinata?" It had been a sarcastic question but Naruto flushed a furious red.

"N-no! Of course, not!" He exclaimed, almost tipped over the vase of flower near Sakura's head. It's stupid, she had thought, scowling at the vase, who would bring her flowers when she's only in the hospital for a day.

As if noticing, Naruto beamed winningly at her. "Isn't Hinata nice to give us these beautiful flowers? She said it means _Get_ _well_ _soon_." He sighed in that love-struck sigh he had always done when talking about Hinata. "She's too kind for her own good."

"Saint. Should be Maria the virgin." Sakura diverted her glare to the wall instead. She is everything but obvious. "Anyhow, I'm out of here and- Ouch." As she sat up, pain exploded near her temple and Sakura felt bandage around her skull.

"Oh, I've meant to ask. It's there when you were brought in." Naruto told her with a frown. "Did you pick a fight with Ino last night or something? The doctor said it's pretty deep."

The memories of the strange trio last night flooded back and Sakura shrugged. "Nothing. Just an accident."

"A hole in the skull is an accident?"

"Shut up." Sakura wondered if she should mention the weird trio last night and their unexpected assaults. But Naruto was a guy who acted first before thinking and he didn't care much about celebrities. If he knew some actors and actresses had poked a hole in Sakura's head with their stylish shoes, hellish wrath was ensured to erupt.

"Forget it, Naruto. Nothing big happens last night, okay?" Sakura smiled at her best friend. "Let's leave last night behind."

Sakura might want to leave it, but it might not want to, Sakura discovered later. Life is a bitch, for real.

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Sometimes, when Sakura sat alone in the apartment she shared with Naruto, she would think about her own family, her parents. They were nice people, kind - too kind for her. They loved her too much, spoiled her rotten yet, Sakura had never felt content. She was a selfish bitch, she knew.

Too ambitious, too full of herself, too insensitive.

She left once she's legal to be independent, despite her mother's tears and her father's almost crushing hugs. She wanted to be more than just small people in a small town out of nowhere. She left home to this city, where nothing was hers and she had to work hard to gain anything she wanted and hardly wrote home, despite the constant streams of letters income.

Then the letters stopped and Sakura lost what she had always taken for granted.

"Naruto has already covered your shift tonight. Don't worry." Her boss's booming voice mingled amongst the restaurant's background noises of chatters and laughter. "Just make sure to recover fast and come to work tomorrow."

Once he hung up, Sakura ventured to the kitchen.

Kitchen was not her place. She sucked at cooking, had no desire to improve and was content to leave it for Naruto, even if they had takeaway pizza twice a week and the rest consisted of hamburgers and fries.

Rummaging through the cupboard and finding nothing but potato chips, Sakura made herself a cup of coffee, even if it's already late evening. She would wait for Naruto, she decided, like her mother always waited for her when she returned late from whatever party or clubs in their hometown.

That night was no different from others.

She was using some time alone to calculate both Naruto and her outcomes. Even though only Sakura was a full-time student and Naruto was a full-time team member of the video store nearby, they were always short on cashes. Naruto's monthly wage hardly enough to cover their twice a day meals and Sakura's inheritance was the only mean to pay the rent for this surly, overprice dungeon.

The scholarship, despite its low status, was the only way Sakura could use to achieve her dream. Sometimes, she wished she had lowered one, so that she could be happier, like Naruto's.

"Me?" They had spent a night celebrating her 21th birthday and she had wondered aloud why they never seemed to celebrate his. In a matter of fact, she hadn't bothered to ask his birthday, not even after 3 months of apartment-mates bonding. Naruto had laughed then, cradling the chips bag in one arm and beer can in the other. "I don't know, Sakura. I haven't mentioned I came from the Kage?"

Sakura spit the beer she had just been ready to swallow. "You _did_?" Sakura asked, astonished and wary. She might be new to this city but everyone who had a decent marble knew the Kage orphanage, where everyone shot everyone.

Also, its orphans who always grew up to end as either a thief or lowly homeless.

"Is it… Is it alright?" Naruto had asked slowly, sky-liked eyes careful on her face, watching and waiting. Sakura had felt sick, because everyone's parents told them to stay as far away from the _Kage_ and its rats, because Naruto was her apartment-mates and she knew the birthday cake was not easy for his pocket and his stupid face was making Sakura felt funny.

She chugged down two cans of beer before grunting. "Well, you're someone I know and even if you're lame – honestly, who bought cookies for a birthday present, you loser – you're alright." She felt an urge to add at his silly beam. "That didn't mean you could prance around, announcing you're a _Kage_, you stupid retard. Give me a fucking heart attack."

"I… I never have a family, Sakura. I've always want one, though." Naruto had said, looking small and young in his ginger hand-down jumper. "I just thought that since we're _nearly_ friends and everything, I should come clean first."

Sakura wanted to correct him that there was no way she would be a Kage's friend but Naruto was gazing at his chubby laps and he looked so damned young and she was crazy for wanting to touch his head.

She downed another beer, and passed him the empty can, wondering how could he's be real because no one could be stupid enough to simply wish for a family. He should have wanted something higher, like money, status, power.

But family? Sakura had thought about her parents then, loving her limitless, loving her for whom she was, loving her more than she could return. Someone should have knock some senses into Naruto because family should not be anyone's ambition and as long as you loved and having love returned, you had a family.

"You have me, retard." She told him then, and she remembered his full name, not just an apartment-mate.

Thinking about the past alone was something Sakura hated. It made her felt old, and nostalgia, so she shoved the memories away to concentrate in the numbers on her notes.

Sakura was happy for Naruto when Hinata asked him out. Really, she did.

But she just wished her friend to have the decency to think before spending all his money on the dates and _bonus_ presents. Hinata was nice, and Sakura hated herself for wishing the girl would stop taking Naruto to elegant art gallery, to romantic expensive restaurant and made Sakura's life miserable because, hell: before, they barely had enough - now, everything just corkscrewed straight out of control.

And, the rent of the apartment was drawing extremely near. This stress was almost as bad as her anxiety before exams.

Sakura would need to find a third job then. She was going through the news paper for job advertisements when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Good evening. Are you Sakura Haruno?" When she confirmed, the caller said with an expensive drawl. "Miss Haruno, my name is Kabuto. The Sound Company is opening for an experiment and Dr. Orochimaru, personally, believes you shall be suitable to participate."

Short, straight to the point.

Sakura clutched her phone. "How do… No, not the main point, _what_ could you offer me?" She was never a curious person- ok, may be she is, but the point was that she honestly didn't care how these people knew her and knew her desperation for jobs. May be they wanted randomness for their experiment. She had learnt about those stuffs and she was desperate for jobs and may be she had lucks after all.

"Ah, many things, now that you are so eager to know, Miss Haruno." Kabuto sounded approving. "Even if you only anticipate in our research team for a short period of time, our company shall treat you as if you're a full-time worker. This means, of course, a job contract, a weekly wage, medical insurance and paid for 5 days off."

"That's crazy." Sakura demanded in disbelief. The deal was too good to be true. "What kind of experiment is this?"

"Oh, we are trying out for the newest products. If you are interested in fully-detailed description," Kabuto sounded distracted. "you shall have to come to our company tomorrow. We have an interview at 10 am."

"But I'm busy at that time!" She had a test! She had to attend it at 10 am and passed it with flying color to keep her scholarship!

"It's none of our company's concern to know your schedule, Miss Haruno. The chance is there and we have 10 more participants who desperately want this position." Kabuto warned. "A smart girl knows where her priority lies, Miss Haruno."

She barely uttered a good bye before he bid her good luck and the line went dead. Naruto called sometimes later, to tell her that he would not come home that night.

_A smart girl knows where her priority lies._

The apartment felt cold without Naruto and the numbers in her notes just kept getting bigger and bigger and Sakura wondered why choices were so hard to make.

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Sai was one of those guys whose thoughts no one could decipher. At first impression, Sakura hadn't liked him. Partly, because he called her Ugly right after he nicknamed Naruto as Dickless; partly, because there was something inside his eyes which told her he knew her more than she knew herself.

"The Sound Company?" Sai's mouth was full of Sakura's favorite Obby's cereals. He continued without any notice to Sakura's scowl. "Are you sane? They are the best in our city for treating their employee well. You should ditch your stupid test."

"Scholarship is everything for a poor student like me, Sai." Sakura wondered how Sai paid his tuition. He must have back-up from home. "Beside, the job, as this Kabuto said, is temporarily and there are 10 bloody competitors against me! I know my luck. They suck more than Naruto and his algebra. Coffee?"

Sai took her offer, but added at least 6 sugar cubes. "You hardly have a chance to find out. Anyway, it's your decision. Where's Dickless?"

"He's hardly a dickless if he can score Hinata, Sai." Sakura winked at her friend's blank face. "Not home and they must have breakfast in the bed right now." She sighed wistfully. "If only that stupid accident didn't happen, I would be in bed with Sasuke now."

"I believe you have an urgent need for a full-length mirror." Sai commented sincerely and Sakura opened a drawer for the sake of it. Oh, and not punch the bastard in the face as well.

"I swear I will gut you like a fish and dispose your god damn body in a ditch one day, Sai." Sakura said to Naruto's potato chips.

"After ravishing my hot body?" Sai asked. "_Outrageous_."

"Oh, fuck off." She slammed the door and stormed to her bed room. "Clean after yourself and lock the door, after you're done."

Sai carried his second bowl of noodle after her. "Why? Where're you going?"

"Throw myself out of a window for the privilege of taking a nap?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "And who said you can eat in my room! Shoo! Go away!"

"I'm still hungry." Sai said, draining the last bit of milk and Sakura shot him an incredulous stare.

"Are you for real? Wait, you're Naruto's friend after all." Sakura massaged her forehead. "What evidence could you gather that I will ever get my ass out of my comfy bed and feed you, Sai?"

"Because I'm handsome?"

"Nice try." He did have a point but she flipped him the bird. "Pissed off."

"Look, I haven't had proper food for a week!" Sai argued.

"I haven't had anything but coffee for last week!"

"Well, I haven't had healthy food for the last two weeks!"

"Well, this is not a competition and I'm certainly not arguing with you," Sakura scowled. "But for the last month, I haven't had any vegetables in my digestive system."

"I see why your face is a coal field with irredeemable holes." Sai had to throw himself on the floor to dodge a flying dictionary.

"Why did you dodge? Waste of a good shot." Sakura sighed, rolling out of her bed and passed Sai with a filthy glare. "Alright, man of my heart, what do you want?"

"I was hoping for some eggs." Sai smiled at her.

"To prove my eternal devotion," Sakura rummaged through the fridge, "there will be eggs. You want my eternal devotion scrambled or fired?"

Sai clearly wished he hadn't asked for eggs because the fire alarm went off in ten minutes later and Sai was still shaking his head, even if he forced spoonful of burnt protein in his mouth. "You suck at cooking. You suck at being pretty. You suck at being a lady. How will you win Prince Charming over, Ugly?"

"I suppose Naruto stuck with me then." Sakura smirked at him, glancing at the clock and decided that her nap could be arranged later of the day. She only had half an hour to get to her university now.

Then, the phone rang.

Naruto's muffled sobs came quickly as Sakura tried to gain balance by leaning against the wall. "Hanabi—" He uttered helplessly. "She's dead, Sakura. Murdered by a _Kage_."

And that morning was when everything spiraled down to hell.

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_**A/N:**_ As side information, _Kage_ is the name of the orphanage Naruto was raised in and anyone who grew up in there will be called a _Kage._ About Sakura, I hope no one found her as out of character. She has always struck me as an easy to jealous, self-conscious and insecured kind of girl.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you readers enjoy the story so far. I love all of your reviews and would love more of them. Well, I'm that much of a review-whore. Anyway, the next update will come soon. See you all.

P.S. About the pairing, I haven't had much thoughts about whom Sakura will end up with. This is a Sakura Harem kind of fic but I still like her to find her love in the end. Or, may be not. I'm not sure. Tell me what you think, yeah?


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**Standard one applies.

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**Chapter 3:**

Kabuto surveyed the women in the waiting room through the camera. He didn't think they knew their behaviors before the interview was also one of the tests. Orochimaru was a perfectionist and he wanted people under his control to be the most outstanding talents.

"They are all so ugly." Suigetsu declared angrily. "Why the hell did you call them, Kabuto? They wouldn't worth a penny!"

"It's not my decision." Though, personally, he thought the ginger haired with short skirt in the corner of the room looked nice but in general, Kabuto had to agree with Suigetsu. "The president picked them personally. He's a man… with unique mind."

"Look at them hurt my eyes." Karin remarked with a distasteful scowl. "I mean, really _look_ at them: either too fat, or too short, or too- Oh my god! I think I will be sick. Could I puke in the bin over there?"

Kabuto thought he should be the one to be sick as a girl with bad case of pimples and weedy looking entered the room. He had to shrew his eyes away from the terrible walking human to check the clock and grimaced.

"She's late." Juugo voiced out Kabuto's thoughts. "She will be failed."

"Even if she entered one hour earlier, that wouldn't make a fucking difference!" Karin slammed her fist. Kabuto thought she's just moody because the company's employee couldn't participate in its experiment. "She's everything which represents the word Ugly!"

"She looked like a rotting grape which died of plague." Kabuto thought Juugo was quite obvious in trying to siding up with Karin but the girl shot him a winning beam after all.

"It's not her fault she didn't know the disastrous effect of her purple jumper." Kabuto said but even _he_ could hear the small hesitation in his argument.

"Well said, Kabuto." Orochimaru's voice startled all of them but at least - Kabuto consoled himself - _he_ didn't fall out of his chair and made a general fool like Suigetsu.

"Hello, Sir. Shall we start the interview now?" Kabuto asked, creeping closer to the small device on the table. It's Orochimaru's obsession to always communicate through machines and only revealing his face when it's the most urgent emergency.

"No need to. Send the others away." Orochimaru's voice sounded triumphant, as if he had found his trump card to win a deadly war. "I want that rotten-grape girl." Eardrop on others was clearly his boss's favorite pastime.

"Oh my God." Suigetsu exclaimed, glancing around to join the other grim faces and Karin muttered how she should started looking for new job, seeing their next representative was the most ugly, distasteful catastrophe any cosmetic company could dread for.

Kabuto thought she had a point, but his boss was always a strange man and they were all lowly servants. So, he threw open the door, announcing the winner with eyes on the ginger hair and the purple- jumper girl's face turned pale with shock, making the pimples stood out even worst.

Then, she smiled, and Kabuto believed the company would go bankrupt in a near-future.

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"She's there? Are you for real?" Tsunade shoved the twenty-something newbie off her. He fell off the bed with a bewildered grunt.

"Hell yeah! Isn't it awesome? Come quickly!" Jiraiya's excited laughter boomed off her cell but Tsunade was busily striding out of the room and calling her driver. Jiraiya blabbered something more, about another girl and something to do with money but all of this went in and out of Tsunade's hearing range in one swift second.

There were all sorts of strange emotions within her.

If she just closed her eyes and blocked off the reality, Tsunade could easily return to the day she accepted Orochimaru's offer and signed the contract. It's a sunny day, she had remembered, without a shadow of cloud and the sky was so clear, so blue that Tsunade found it's hard to understand how it could be so beautiful when it's also her husband's funeral.

Isn't it supposed to be rainy? To be so grey, so ugly, so sour that no one wanted to do anything but weep in their bed? Isn't that what would- should happen in a movie?

This day was the same with hers.

Tsunade had signed the contract with Orochimaru because she wanted revenge. This girl, Tsunade surveyed the mess of pink hair and pimpled face, wanted something too.

Although, the woman was sure it would not be the same thing with hers. Those eyes behind the huge lens were still innocent, too young to understand hatred and resentment, but not completely pure to not know greed and ambition.

"Stop staring, Tsunade." Orochimaru purred next to Jiraiya. "You're scaring our kitten."

As if the bastard wasn't leering the whole time, Tsunade rolled her eyes. Even Jiraiya was regarding the _kitten_ in a near-enchanted, bemused manner. She could see the wheels in both her friends' heads turned as they watched the girl squirmed in her seat, which was magically inching closer and closer to the door.

Tsunade was betting with her Inner self whether the girl would give up and ran with her tails between her legs in the next five seconds. Hell, the girl looked closed enough to do so, but her little pimpled face was pinching together in what. Tsunade realized in amused dismay, was a thinking pose.

"I… I want to confirm that I'm in your experiment now, yes?" She was polite, too different from that hellfire of bitch last Friday night, Tsunade thought. A hidden quality of good actress.

"Yes. I assume you've read the descriptions of this experiment?" Orochimaru drawled and Tsunade saw the thick book on the girl's thigh. It's just like _Oro_ to exaggerate everything when really, this was just a simple question of whether the girl would be the town It Girl by New year or not.

"This is the formal contract, right?" The pinky asked, lifting the huge specs up her squashed nose. "Everything in here, even the wage is true? This is not a joke between rich people or god forbid, a reality TV show, right?"

"I assure you, it's not." Jiraiya smiled at her and Tsunade watched the girl steeling herself.

"You're going to pay me 30 thousands dollar for trying out a kind of pills? 10 thousands every month?" The girl exclaimed, voice wondering at this madness. "Is this some sort of illegal experiment?"

"A biochemical advanced pill. We have Government's agreement. Would you like to take a look? The papers are just here." Orochimaru gestured to his table but the girl had already made up her mind and she pushed the book to the table.

"I've signed the Consent Page. I'm good to start anytime, as long as the money arrives at my bank account on time." Tsunade was impressed. She had thought it would be another ten years until she met a girl as frank as this pinky head.

"Sakura, isn't it?" Tsunade read from the book, before glancing up at the grey face of their sample.

"Sakura Haruno."

Cherry Blossom in a spring field. Such ugly face didn't deserve such beautiful name, Tsunade thought. Her parents must have enormous expectations for their daughter, who would never blossom to match the name.

"Well, have you read the side effects section?"

"Tsunade." Orochimaru growled and Tsunade knew that the sly bastard had _accidentally_ left that part out. She had been caught in that trap once. She would not let another poor deer got caught again.

If it's possible, the girl's face turned from grey to an ash color. Her face was too small for her specs and the outbreak of pimples seemed to swallow every inch of her skin, making her looked like a dying patient of some fatal skin disease. "I have." She said.

Orochimaru shot a glare at Jiraiya and the blond haired man just shrugged. "I thought you forgot." That's an outrageous lie because Orochimaru never forgot anything and everything he did have a purpose. But Jiraiya was a friend and he still had his benefits for Orochimaru so the black head just sneered before looking back to the girl.

Really, could men be more obvious?

Tsunade was impressed the girl wasn't up and out of the room after all those horrible warnings. Jiraiya wasn't Orochimaru. He wouldn't butter anything up.

It didn't take much to notice the girl- _Sakura__'__s_ fists were trembling. "I don't care." She announced loudly, harshly. "I'm only here for the money. As long as this experiment doesn't interfere with my academic results or personal life, I'm fine."

"Even if you might experience some mild discomforts, Miss Haruno?" Orochimaru asked, tone purely curious. "So far, our experiment has only conducted upon animals, but sadly, never on human before."

"Your company would cover the medical fee if something came up." Sakura curled her mouth. A hideous sight to behold.

"Money won't save you from the pains." Jiraiya told her, even if all of them knew that this piece of information would risk her bailing out. "I'll be straight with you. It will hurt as if you're dying. This drug rebirths your body. It kills your old cells, and replaces it with a new one, like cancer, only much worse. This substance messes with your genes and might alter your _bone_ structures. The fact that it only took two weeks to complete the transformation only adds to its degree of danger. Are you really sure you're ready for this? Do you understand the risks?"

Tsunade hadn't known this, and she was ready to crash the whole plan, no matter what the other two said. This experiment was too dangerous. What if this girl, this young, promising ANBU-student dies?

"I'm a believer in fair play… If you're generous enough to offer me such huge amount of money," Sakura's eyes hardened and Tsunade's opened-mouth closed slowly. "I must prove my worth. I can endure. I believe I will survive."

Tsunade regarded the girl closer. Her complexion was not completely impossible to fix. She could be presentable, if you put enough work into the process.

"And when you do," Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, relaxing but not off- guard. "You will have everything a woman could ever crave."

Sakura smiled, not a bright, hopeful smile, but a weary, bitter one. It didn't suit her face. Neither was the background she was in. "You hardly know _me_, Sir."

"What is it that you want then, young lass?" Jiraiya asked, sincere and genuine, like he had asked Tsunade ten years ago.

The girl betrayed nothing. When she stood, light fell over her face and when she left, Tsunade almost thought she saw a glimpse of her old self in that small, hunched back. Almost.

Then, the door closed on all of them.

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After Sakura signed the contract and much begging for a second chance on the test she had ditched, she arrived home in time to find Naruto shut the door of his bed room. The house was dark, the curtain drew tightly and her best friend was hiding in his bed like a child would do when he had nightmares and there was nowhere to run.

She had always thought it's girly of Naruto to cry so easily. He was always an emotional sort of guy. Too sensitive, too damned easy to hurt and too desperate for love.

"Naruto?" Sakura crept close to the budge on Naruto's bed. His room, usually so tidy, now a mess with clothes and books and glasses glittered on the floor. The mirror must have been caught in the storm.

He gave no indication that he had heard her and for a brief moment, she considered backing out, to give him space, like Sai had done and told her to.

Only, Naruto was always alone, and he hated loneliness and Sakura didn't think it's alright to leave him suffering by himself.

So, she sat on the floor, as near him as possible, but without looking like smothering him. She thought about calling Hinata but decided that his future wife was the last person on earth he wanted to see. Hinata had her own grief to handle after all.

Beside, guys were all the same. They hated to appear as weak in front of their girls, which was absurd, because love was all about sharing and understanding.

But Naruto was a stubborn sort of guy, too insecure to believe Hinata wouldn't ditch him the moment he let his guard down, even if it's obvious the girl was head over heels for him.

Sakura wondered if Sasuke would come over. Naruto and Sasuke used to be so closed it's hurt to think about them drifting apart nowadays. A small, immature part of her believed sincerely that if she just dialed him, Sasuke would run, dashing to his old apartment to console his distressed ex-best friend- Only, Sakura was older now and life was never always pink.

Sometimes, Sakura missed Ino and her ex-best friend's simplistic mind.

Ino was all about friends, family and fashion. Ino was never an over-sensitive kind of girl and Sakura never had to mind her mouth in front of that wild pig. But Ino was the past and they all made stupid mistakes and Sakura wished she wasn't the one next to Naruto, frantically trying to find what to say and failed epically at it.

Sakura must have sat on Naruto's rug for more than an hour, because her butt felt numb and she really needed to move, to unlock her aching spine and escaped from this suffocating room. Would Naruto mind if she opened the curtains and read a book while he sulked in his blanket? Even Sai would know that would be a bad idea.

"Go away." Naruto finally mumbled through his superman duvet. His voice's hoarse and muffled.

"Nah. I'm good where I am." Sakura lied; her stomach begged furiously for some coffee or at least, a snack- but she resolved. She asked pathetically, instead. "So, uhm, how's the sleeping beauty?"

Naruto was silent, even thought he used to crack up at even her lamest jokes. His breath was ragged and there were sharp, terrible sounds in the room. "Why are you here?" He declared at last. "Aren't you afraid of me? Of whom I am? Haven't you heard enough?"

Sakura knew what Naruto was talking about. The phone early that morning had told her enough. "Who do you think I am, you retard? I'm not Sai. Of course, I know what happened. The _Kage_murderer is still on the loose-"

"Then why are you still here!" Naruto ripped opened his blanket so fast that Sakura would have stumbled backward if her back wasn't already in the wall. His wet face contorted into ugly ferocity. His expression worked for a few seconds, trying to resolve into nothing but fury, and he spat. "You. I bet you really want me to move out, right?"

He was scaring her but she refused to break eyes-contact. "You. Are. A. Retard." Sakura told him as gently as her rough voice, which was used to curses and ugly words could do.

She wanted to yell at his face, demanding to know what he was thinking. They were friends, were almost-but-not-there family, were- She didn't know what exactly they were now but Naruto was important to her and he needed to stop looking like she was disgusted by him.

Naruto growled, almost close to a wounded beast. "You have everything I don't have. You're always jealous of others, of Ino because she had everything you want, of Hinata, of Sasuke. And because I've never had anything but the god damn _Kage_, you befriend me. I, now… even Hinata will never forgive me…" He lost his voice for a second, before regaining it, but it still sounded jagged, tumbling over itself. "Get lost! I'm a _Kage_! My kind murdered my girlfriend's sister! Go away before I kill you too!"

"You're a fucking nutcase, Naruto. What's on earth are you talking about?" Sakura tried to hold his hands, the one he was using to clutch his head and gripping his hair. "You're the most dim-witted guy I've ever seen but _you__'__re_ _not_ _a_ _murderer_! Come on- Even if, Hanabi's murderer is a _Kage_, that doesn't mean you're the same with hi-"

"We were friends." Sakura felt like he had slapped her on the face and she wanted to retreat her hands and she was very afraid of his eyes, which were boring into hers. He pursued relentlessly. "His name is Haku. He is- _was_ a nice guy, a bit girly and easy to cry. He was my only friend in that God damned hell hole. He was very kind, even more than me and he was my friend and now, he's a murderer."

Naruto's face was crumpled and wet with tears, his nose running and another half-strangled choke escaped. Then suddenly, a whole round of hacking dreadful sobs he couldn't seem to control shook his frame. He was breathing too harsh now and the room seemed to close in both of them and Sakura didn't know what to do.

"They still haven't found the murderer." Sakura said carefully, because logic was all she's ever good at. "All we know is that this guy comes from _Kage_."

"He came to me that day," Naruto whispered, a pain grimace in his face, "With blood on his hands and I let him go. _I_ _let_ _the_ _murderer_ _go_. Do you understand what I am now? Do you see what a screw-up bastard I am? Hinata- _Hinata_." He broke off, sobbing again.

"Naruto, look." She grabbed his palms, trembling and sweating and he refused to meet her eyes. "Look at me. Look at me, you fucking retard!"

When he did, red eyes and swollen face, Sakura inhaled and for once, said things which she knew she would be embarrassed of later.

"I don't know what made you think I will look down on you because you're a Kage, even if I knew that before and has lived with you for a god damned year. Secondly, this Haku, you know him? Great. You guys used to be friends? Nice to know. You let him go? Too bad for the cops. But that didn't make you the same with him. You hadn't met each other for a long time, ok? Something must have happened to him that didn't happen to you and you guys are different."

"But that's the thing! You don't understand!" Naruto shook his hands off hers and he looked so viciously furious, Sakura thought for a terrified moment that he would hit her.

But he did not.

He just turned his face away, voice still sharp and heated however. "I could have been him! I'm a Kage too! He's a better guy than me! He was _adopted_! Why should he have any reason to kill anyone? Why should he be a god damned murderer? That mean one day I could be one too. A criminal! That what us Kages are! He's my blooded-brother! They are my only family and they are all criminals! Don't you see that I have bad blood in my veins! That-"

"You fucking shut up!" Sakura screamed over him. Her mind went blank with rage. "You're not a murderer! You're my friend! Fuck if I will let you be a fucking criminal, you- you _retard_!"

Sakura's face was burning. Even if she was trying to be smoothed and nonchalant and isn't a woman supposed to be good with emotion-dealing stuffs? - Still, Sakura wished the earth could swallow her whole!

"Why do you always make me saying stupid, obvious thing, Naruto?" She growled, feeling the tips of her ears on flame as she spat hatefully. "I thought… I thought we're _friends_and you are… God, I'll kill you later for this but well, you're _necessary_ for me and, urgh… _You__have__me,__okay?_ And don't even ask anything because I'm going to murder you this night!"

Naruto looked cowed by her livid glares and he didn't seem to be much consoled by her screaming insults at him but well, fuck him because this was as far as she could go and if he thought she would be all loving and pansy and-

And- Sakura thought as Naruto slowly but surely smiled at her, a sweet, almost painfully shy smile - may be being vulnerable for once was alright.

He took her hands, hesitant and questioning and he whispered. "Thank you." His eyes were bright with love and Sakura dared to squeeze his hand back as a pathetic metaphor of: _I__'__ve_ _got_ _you_.

They sat, one on the bed and one on the ground, not looking at each other but fingers entwined in an awkward way. Naruto said at last. "I don't want to hide, Sakura. I'm sick of all of this and I- I wish…"

Sakura caught a photo of Naruto - he must be around ten, was beaming in a sort of Naruto-oblivious way and looked painfully small in front of his old house, the _Kage_- and she thought that someone should have taken care of that child, that innocent, loveless child.

She wanted to say something nice, something sensitive, something that would smooth his heart but nothing came out, because Sakura was always quick to hurt but never knew how to deal with the one who was hurt. Sakura just held her friend's hand tight and wished to never let go.

That night, Sakura composed a letter to her mother. She wrote about Naruto, about this strange project which brought a fortune of money and what she would do with it. She added an apology for not being able to make her way home last Christmas and that she hadn't been there for her on Dad's funeral and that she loved her very much.

_Mom, will you forgive me?_

Sakura stared at her letter until the sky dawned a September Grey and she put it in her drawers, where its siblings stayed to gather nothing but dust.

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The next day, _Leaf_ attended Hanabi's funeral.

The day was cold but the sky was clear, the condition was as good as they could get in late September. Sakura thought she wouldn't mind a bit of downpour. It suited the mood, as much as her only black dress she owned, which she had bought for another occasions, but that beside the point.

The attendants were all Huygas, Sakura noticed. Everywhere she looked, she would see the color black and its rival, white. Her hair stood out like a sore thump, even if she had worn a hat to conceal part of it.

Naruto had it's worse, however. Standing in the middle of the black sea, Naruto stood out almost sharply next to Hinata with his vivid pallor. Though, he had make a lot of efforts: he wore dark suit, his expression was solemn and when Hinata leaned against him, trembled, weary and worn, he put his arm around her and he should have fit in quite well with the rest.

But he did not.

And as he stood against the rest of the Huyga, his eyes were the color of sky before snow fell.

Sakura looked away, to Hanabi's mother, who was crying and kept screaming her daughter's name, to the stricken, drained face of her father, to the silent grave. Eventually, Hinata pried away from her boyfriend to embrace her mother. Their faces so etched by sadness and misery and loss that they looked almost like twins.

When Hiashi put his hands on his wife's shoulder and hugged his other daughter closed, Sakura saw what Naruto was seeing.

A miserable family and they should have been happy, but they weren't and it's because of his kind, because of his friend, because of _him_.

Sakura thought about Hanabi, about the girl with curious, bright face on the newspaper, about how she had never known that little girl and what such girl would become if she hadn't been murdered. She thought about the Kage, about this young girl's murderer, about how much love Naruto had put in for his childhood friend and now, what left were disappointment, pain and betrayal.

She attached to the phone as soon as they arrived home. "Sai?"

"Hey, Ugly." Sai sounded tired. "How's… Naruto?"

"He's better. You could come over now if you're free." Sakura watched Naruto on the couch from the kitchen. "He could use some guy bonding time."

"Well, I'll finish soon." Sai said in his off-handed drawl and Sakura could just image his casual shrug.

"Thanks for covering Naruto's shift."

"Dickless would soon be Jobless if he kept ditching his work. Today would be the last day I cover for him, seriously." That's a lie and they both knew it's not going to be the last.

"Listen, before you hang up, I have a favor to ask." Sakura tensed when Naruto peeked at her but quickly relaxing when she realized it's just one of Naruto's weird habits of always checking over his shoulder. She would have approximately 5 more minutes before Naruto pranced over, demanding to know whom she was talking with.

Sai agreed with a good-nature tone. "As long as it's not sexual favor, I'm yours."

"That means a lot to me." Sakura said dryly. "Look, I'll make this quick. I want you to use whatever connections you have to create a new profile for Naruto. Birth Certificate, Police checks and Passport. Money is not a problem... I want his past erased."

"You have more balls then I thought you can own." Sai sounded amused, but hardly surprised. She wondered if she had looked that obvious when she asked about fake ID and its information. "But you sure your hip pocket can afford this? It's quite expensive. By expensive, I mean a fucking bomb. Made-up paperwork is not a joke."

Sakura bit her lips. "How much?"

"10 thousands. Covering all, from background heritage to even parentage DNA test."

"I'll manage." Sakura was clearly more expensive than Naruto's newly clean background. Even though, this meant her first 10 weeks of working in Sound would be for free then. "Could the payment come weekly? I can't get 10 thousands in a week."

"The guy owns me a favor." Sai said. "He'll agree, as long as there is money. But the time to finish the whole thing will be slow. Take about two months to complete."

"Good enough." Sakura sighed in relief. "Listen, I want him to come from a good family, may be office workers as parents or better yet, teachers. Nothing too fancy, though. He can be a migrant, like me." She lowered her voice at the third glance from Naruto. He was getting restless. She didn't have much time left. "But your men must cover his high school degree."

Sai didn't ask where she got the money. That's why he's her friend. "Add 100 bucks and you'll get a Dickless bachelor."

"Diploma in business management will do." Sakura thought the chance of Naruto passing any university's final exam was too rich to be realistic. "50 dollars and the money will start to arrive in your bank account by next Tuesday morning."

Sakura could hear a smile in Sai's voice. "Deal. You want everything in secret, no?"

"Oh, Shino, you understand me the best! I've always wanted that blue tee! Thanks a lot! May be I'll pass by your house to get it later." Sakura raised her voice as Naruto finally gave up his ominous lurking and was doing a bad job acting as if he desperately in need of chips even if several bags were scattered on his couch.

Sai chuckled. "I'll be there in ten minutes, Hag." The line went dead as Naruto passed her. The scent of clothes softener, shampoo and sun filled the air. Sakura thought about him with puffy eyes, about the Kage with its children and Naruto's friend, Hanabi's murderer - Haku.

When Naruto caught her eyes, Sakura allowed a smile, which she felt was not that convincing, but apparently, was enough for her best friend. "Who's Shino? Never heard of him before." He asked, looking around the cupboard.

"Er, he's Sai's friend." Sakura tried to stick close to the truth as possible. "Bought cheap stuffs online for me. Quite a nice guy."

"_Is_ _he_?"

"Yeah and uh, did you just _snarl_?" Sakura had always thought that Naruto was a bit unstable. It made sense if people think about it, with his gruel-some past, stressful life and having to constantly keeping up his vigorous beams, Sakura supposed even she would go haywire.

Naruto coughed, looking away. "No. Of course not… How about you tell me more about this _Shino_." He said, voice a bit higher than usual and Sakura stalked to the living room in case Naruto had in fact lost his marble.

"Well," Sakura tried to remember Sai's creepy, bugs-obese friend and even though he was quite nice with her, she admitted at last. "He's okay but I _will_ ignore him on the street. His bugs freak the hell out of me."

"Oh…" Naruto's back was to her and somehow, the muscles relaxed for some strange reason. "Well, he's not that bad, is he? You tend to freak out over most of normal things anyway." Naruto sighed heavily, which Sakura assumed due to him being his usual heroic self, always noble and stupidly confident in people's kindness.

"I am not! You haven't met him!" Sakura scowled, feeling defensive. She's being careful and sensible, not paranoid, dammit! "He wore sunglasses at night! Black one! And his hair! Oh, I feel _ill_ at the thought of his hair. I swear there ought to be all sort of interest life-forms building their empire under that hood of his."

"You're being dramatic again!" Naruto commented, but he sat down next to her and Sakura told him about her intelligent theory on how Shino was farming carnivorous parasites under his armpits.

"And no one will ever suspect him because he's this nice guy who helps people with their shopping crisis. Shino Aburame," Sakura informed him grimly, "is a dark horse. Leaf's end is drawing near as we speak, my friend."

Naruto laughed and laughed and laughed and he put his arms on the back of her seat. He looked okay then, amused and pleased and may-be happy but…

Somehow, there was just something about the tilts of his lips or the way his back shook with laughter that Sakura felt as mechanical.

He was pretending too hard but Sakura never knew the exact way to deal with upset, angsty orphan, so, she continued to talk to him, as if by talking, by making him laugh, she was achieving something.

Sometimes, Sakura thought that Ino was right, that her ex- best friend had somehow worked out her worst weakness, that no matter how tough she acted, she was still a coward inside.

A coward who would never be good enough.

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A/N: Well, another chapter's done. It's quite boring but it's important for the plot, so… And also, I want to focus on Sakura's life and her relationships with people around her before the experiment begins. I hope Naruto was not too ooc. I've always thought of him as a tragic hero, well, an idiotic tragic hero but he should receive more love.

Secondly, I'M DESPERATE FOR A BETA-READER! If you're free and interested in my story, well, please HELP ME! *Crying a river*

Anyway, my angst should be put aside, thanks to those who reviewed. Although I never replied, because I didn't have much time to begin with, I want you all to know that your love made my days. All your suggestions and comments are taken seriously. Thank you… *Should I kiss you all?*

Alright, hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Standard one applied.

**A/N: **I just change my pen name again. Hope you still recognize me *Grin*

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**Pheromone**

**By: Terri Leinn Vie **

**Chapter 4:**

It was not a piece of cake to produce a second Tsunade, no matter what people say. Jiraiya was pacing the room as Sakura stared at the white box of sample pills on her hands.

"Take one each day." Orochimaru instructed, annoyed by Jiraiya and feeling stress with the prediction of the amount of works which would follow in the next three weeks. "Remember to take it daily and consistently. The effects will start soon and if it does without us around, drink as much water as you possibly can. In fact, you should drink 5 liters starting from today. Be safe is better than being sorry. Also, there might be allergy to alcohol and drugs, so no club and bar from this day."

Sakura snorted quietly, even though her face was grey and her hand shook slightly. "Never club or bar before. I can't see why I've to start on a drinking lifestyle now."

"With your old body, probably no." It would take more than a day to find a right party dress to go with that lanky body and hideous hair, Orochimaru thought.

"Lass, I don't mean to be a hassle or anything, but," Jiraiya was standing by the door now, looking at Sakura with the concern he ought to keep to himself. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, this is very dangerous and we wo-"

Orochimaru allowed an approval smirk as the girl downed the pill with her water and drained the whole bottle as he explained before. An obedient girl is a good girl, no matter how boring they might be.

Jiraiya wilted clearly as he limped to the sofa next to Orochimaru. He looked tired, and sicked, as he ought to and Orochimaru decided he would bring his idiotic friend, who had too big of a heart, out to the bar. Jiraiya looked in dire need of some alcohol, and may be beautiful ladies.

"I hope the room we've prepared for you is in your taste." He tried to change the topic because the room was like a kingdom of gloom and despite Orochimaru's face, he liked noises and chatters. There should be some reasons why he's best friend with Jiraiya and Tsunade after all.

"It's very… professional." The girl remarked, and Orochimaru thought she looked unhappy and discontent, which was bloody ridiculous, because the room they generously allowed her to live, though equipped with cameras, was decorated personally by him. It was tasteful and elegant and ten times better than the rat's hole with tattered wall paper that she used to live in.

"I'm glad you like it." Orochimaru thought polite chat should end there, because the loads of work which would follow this girl could not be small. He doubted even the effect of his perfect biochemical technology could change her much without the benefits of good grooming. "Back to the business, as you know, this is an experiment so there is another participant. However, unlike you, who subjected our dug, she will not receive any."

"A control group." Sakura said. "You want to make comparisons between two of us in the end."

Smart girl. They could work well together, Orochimaru smiled. "Even though advertising the drug is good for our business, this experiment will also be a marked evident of the ageless question: Nature or Nuture? Is it the environment or your genes which determined you're desirable?"

"You want me to work out as well?" She looked shocked, and paler than usual, if that's even possible. Obviously, sports were not her favorite pastimes.

Jiraiya smiled for the first time. "Lass, with your skeleton body, exercise should not be your first concern."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked warily for the first time, and Orochimaru was satisfied to see her nervousness. Determination to endure physical pain was one thing, but he also chose her for her ANBU mind.

"May you define 'Desirable' Ms Haruno?"

She was calculating, choosing an appropriate answer from the sheer amount of replies which would choke even an elephant. Eventually, she said carefully. "A woman whose beauty isn't skin-deep. She must have knowledge, grace and status."

"In you case, you lack everything." He watched her for some disappointment but she was just silent, which meant she knew her own limits and capacity. Tsunade would love this girl, Orochimaru thought. They were nearly the same.

"Don't talk as if she's hopeless, Orochimaru." Jiraiya sighed noisily, staying loyal to his belief that no woman is ugly. The beholder just hasn't looked closely enough. "What my friend meant is," he told Sakura kindly, "you need a considerable amount of nuture and education in the manners which fit ladies and men could find attractive."

Jiraiya held Sakura's eyes, firm and serious. "Otherwise, you will be a book with fancy cover and rubbishes for content. No man will want a beautiful girl without a beautiful mind."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Shockingly, the young girl snorted. Orochimaru stared. No one had ever dared to snort in their presences, much less directly at the man who was considered as the most talented and probably time-wise-influenced director of their time, _Jiraiya_.

"How so, young lass?" His friend queried amusement transparent in his eyes. After all, Jiraiya had always had a soft spot for feisty women, very unlike Orochimaru.

"Men only care about a woman's look." The girl stated, as if she was explaining something they should have figured out on their own ages ago, considered their ages. "They never have enough time to look past the exterior, Sir. I know you might argue you don't, and true, I'm friend with a dork who sincerely wants to love a girl for who she was, but as far as I concern, generally, look is everything a man wants."

"You don't know men then." Orochimaru chimed in, offended and intrigued by the girl's assumption. She clearly didn't understand how the mind of her opposite genders work – though, Orochimaru could hardly blame her. With that face and cynical believes Sakura had showed so far, her romantic pathway must be rocky – though, he wondered if she ever had one.

"Yes, sir." She glanced side-way at Orochimaru, corner of her mouth curled. "My knowledge may not be complete but I know the basic and for me, that's enough."

When Sakura had left, leaving only the two old men behind, Jiraiya finally allowed a heartening chuckle. "There'll be tons of works for you on that girl. She must be around Tsunade's difficulty level from what I observe so far, mate."

"More or less." Orochimaru hummed. He always loved challenge. That's why he couldn't just settle with a peaceful life in his lab but had to expand his work so it's world-wide well-known.

"I still think you're a mad man." Jiraiya commented, frowning. "I mean, why the hell did you start on that bet with _Madara_? His words aren't cheap jokes, you know? He _will_ kick your skinny ass all the way to _Moon_ if that Sakura girl fell for one of his men."

Which wasn't that difficult, unfortunately, Orochimaru thought. The _Dawn_ company was famous for their god-like, notorious and deadly sexy models, but Madara Uchiha was a fool to underestimate the _Sound_. It had him as the leader after all.

"I think Tsunade is rubbing on you, mate." Jiraiya heaved a suffering sigh. He must have seen the gleam in his best friend's eyes.

"You're raving, Jiraiya." Orochimaru smirked, glancing down at the profile of his trump card, the girl who shall finally help him etching his name in history. "And I'm not insane." He added. "I'm a _genius_."

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Sakura left The Sound after the meeting. She thought about changing out of her orange jumper for a casual tee. The day was turning warmer and warmer as the sun rose high on the sky, but she didn't think she wanted to return to the cold room in which everything was white and felt unfamiliar.

Life had dashed in a too fast pace for Sakura's liking. As soon as the contract was settled and the paperwork done, Orochimaru had struck Sakura with the first request/ demand that she moved in the lab so the observation for any of his drug's effect could be easier and more accurate.

Sakura had bargained hard. She hadn't known she would need to move anywhere and the thought of leaving Naruto alone in their two-bedrooms apartment was unthinkable and off-timing. The shock of his friend's crime and Hinata's growing discomfort with the Kage were straining on her best friend. Although he was getting better as he had begun to return to Ichikaru, abandoning him now would be like a punch to his gut.

A betrayal which Sakura didn't think his weak heart could handle.

But Sakura also understood Orochimaru's order. It's a necessary procedure for any case study, being watched 24/7. The logic of her mind didn't settle well with her conscience, however.

So, Sakura retreated to the only way which she knew how to solve things.

"Sakura! Over here!" Naruto waved at her from his seat behind the tool and she weaved easily over the other customers to reach him. From the sight of dishes on their table, Naruto must have downed his third Fat Burgers.

"Hello, Uncle." She smiled at the owner, who could be an elder version of Naruto with grey hair instead of blond and slightly different facial features. But on the whole, they were similar with chubby cheeks and sun-warmed beams.

"The usual?" His daughter, the only waitress who ever appeared in Fat Burger Ichikaru put a steaming _mocha_ down before Sakura could nod.

"Thank you, Ayame Chan." Sakura nodded; they knew her habit too well.

"How's your interview going?" Naruto asked, even before he swallowed his food and Sakura thought it's a good idea that he never brought Hinata here. Her best friend tended to be loose-minded and grossly disgusting when it came to burgers and his records of finishing one in ten seconds.

"Not so good." She put on a half-hearted sigh. "They want me to try out for an internship before any decision could be made."

"You've got a chance! I know your skills will charm those pricks' pants off their asses, Sakura!" Naruto slapped her on the back enthusiastically, a bit too forceful that it sent her coffee half way down her pants.

"Oops!" Naruto grinned apologetically. "It's good that your clothes are always dark colored. I reckon your jean doesn't even need to be washed after a bottle of sketch-up spilled on it!"

He laughed merrily at his own joke and Sakura reminded herself that she needed to be patient and that hitting him before announcing the bad news would make her out to be a complete bitch. Not that Naruto was acting like his usual self.

"Next time, a simple sorry will be enough." Sakura informed him gravely. "Anyway, what's with you? Are you _high_? Because I swear that-"

Her line was cut half-way by Naruto shot up his seat and performing a great waving dance which usually shouted 'You! Look! I'm Naruto and you need to look at me! Oh, drool and swoon while you're at it too!' His move was always effective but for once, Sakura wished it didn't.

"Buddy! Over here!" Naruto screamed over the chatters in the small diner, which had gone deadly quiet once the other customers noticed the new comer and the man in spot light, who was huge with _scars_ scissoring across his face, advanced on them like a dark cloud of doom.

Sakura watched the man sitting down next to Naruto, who clearly had brain damage when he's a kid because no sane man would smack a gangster tripled his size on the back and complaining about said gangster's tardiness. "Zabuza, really! You're the worst bro ever! What took you so long! When I've nearly finished my meals, you finally showed your ass?"

Her futile elbows went unnoticed by Naruto, or so Sakura wished, because the retard just had to misinterpret it by introducing his best friend, whose pale face once again was not taking in account. "Buddy, this Sakura, the most awesome girl in the world." Sakura resisted the urge to preen. When the man nodded in acknowledge, Sakura thought that at least, she would be safe from the Underground world of Konoha now.

Naruto swung an arm over the gangster's broad shoulder with causality only mad man could possess. "Sakura, this is Zabuza, my old buddy. He's just got back from _Cloud_."

"Very nice to make your acquaintances, Mr. Zabuza." Sakura told him nervously, wishing Naruto didn't insist on keeping his arm on this scary man, who probably was a Mafia ring leader, so she could drag him back to their home in the fastest, most possible polite way.

The man granted her another grim nod before turning his steely glare on Naruto's beaming face. "I thought we are going to discuss _business_." The way he emphasized on business while glaring around caused a chain reaction of people hurling themselves toward the entrance in a mad rush.

The place was deserted in less than 5 minutes. It's amazing how strong human's living wills are, Sakura thought dryly.

Uncle Teuchi looked like he wished he could dive after his customers. "Uhm, do you all need a private moment?" He asked anxiously. Sakura was amazed she hadn't heard the cop's vans approaching yet.

"Oh, that would be great, Uncle! Thanks!" Naruto flashed his teeth. The old man flung at the kitchen in a miraculous speed - considered his old ages and all while Zabuza sharply glared over her best friend's shoulder at Sakura.

Sakura would be called a suicidal fool to not noticing the dismissal cue. She coughed urgently. "Naruto, I think I need to be off now."

"How come? You haven't even finished your drink!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, quickly grabbing her shoulder.

"I'm not thirsty." Zabuza's glare was intensified. Damn it, brain! Work! Help me out of this life-threatening situation! Sakura thought furiously before blurting the most reasonable excuse amongst the mass of crazy theories like alien and mafia. "Let me go, you idiot. Can't you see that the Toilet is beckoning for me."

Why did her mouth always fail her at the critical moment? Sakura screamed silently in despair as Zabuza's glower deepened. Naruto raised a quizzical eyebrow at the direction of the Ladies' room.

"What she meant is she in dire need to get a shit out." Zabuza's gruff voice sent chills of fear down Sakura's spine. She was out of her seat faster than she thought she could ever possibly do.

"What he said." She announced but before she could scurry away from the Deadly Danger Zone, Naruto had pushed her back to her seat by a single shove. Sakura had no idea the dork was that strong!

"I want her here." Sakura couldn't see Naruto's face but his voice was unlike anything Sakura had ever heard uttering from him. He was facing Zabuza and the man furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance – they were going to be maimed, ripped open and intestines sold abroad Sakura just knew – before he heaved a deep sigh – to Sakura's amazement – and returning to stab his fork at the table venomously, as if he was thinking that all of this was a serious mistake and God must hate him because even Zabuza hated himself.

_But I don't want to be here!_ Her mind hysterically protested but when she opened her mouth, Naruto – the most annoying fool of the century – just had to shoot her the look, which apparently, would melt even Atlantic's ice and the next thing she knew, she was settling down next to him, amazed to feel a deep kinship with Zabuza.

"I thought we agreed that the less people involving, the better?" The elder man muttered, snatching chips from Naruto's bowl in a form of savage revenge. Sakura felt fainted with fear.

"Sakura is not just people. She's my friend." Naruto said, the same way he would announce Haku was his blood-brother.

"Could she be trusted?" Zabuza demanded, lightening a cigarette even though the no smoking sign was on his vision line. Sakura wondered when the cops' vans would finally arrive.

"Absolutely. She knows I'm a _Kage_." Naruto glanced at Sakura. "He's _Kage_ too - Look! She hasn't run, screaming yet! Isn't that enough?"

"Well, whatever." Zabuza shrugged, his toned muscles rippled in under his clothes. Sakura wished she had more nerves to run, screaming now. "I'm just here to deliver the plane tickets and your bank accounts. The flight will be on 8 p.m tonight – fucking early in my opinion but you insisted – so get your ass wiped and be there-"

"Flight? Plane tickets?" Sakura couldn't believe her ears. She was gripping Naruto's arm even though the corner of her eyes still held Zabuza's face warily. "What are you doing, you retard? Are you _eloping_ with Hinata?"

"Duh! No!" Naruto laughed, though it sounded all wrong from his mouth. "Hinata hasn't even wanted to go out of her house yet, remember? All paranoid about the _Kage_. No. I'm… taking a vacation, like a break from Konohagakue and all its mess you know?"

"A break?" It didn't sound like Naruto to run away from his problems. Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I'm not a fool, Naruto. Tell me what you're on about."

"I'm going to _Mist_, meeting some friends there. There are going to be a festival there! Isn't it fun?" He continued hastily when Sakura glowered. "Well, anyway, I'll stay there for a few days before venturing to _Stone_, or _Sand_. I don't know. I just want to be a traveler for a few weeks and for once, forget that I'm a Kage, Sakura. I-"

"Look at me." But Naruto didn't.

"I hate this place. Hate its people and their prejudices." He rambled on, animated waving to demonstrate his points even though there's hardly any high-spirit in his voice. "There is no future for us _Kage_ here, you know? After Haku accident, most of us are going abroad, to find a home where our pasts aren't catching-"

"Naruto!" Her nails could draw blood if she continued to squeeze Naruto's wrist. But she was scared and couldn't understand what he was talking about and she knew he was lying.

"I can't be here anymore, Sakura." He muttered to his burgers, which for once, lied untouched.

"Bullshit." She grabbed the back of his head and slammed his forehead hard against her. Pain exploded but not the bad one. The good one where you knew you weren't in the dream and you must be calm and collected about reality.

Naruto winced loudly. "That's fucking hurt!"

"I hope it fucking is, you filthy liar!" Sakura snarled angrily. "You said you trust me, see me as a friend and now, you lied to me? What do you think I am, Naruto? A toddle with shit for brain?"

"No, no, no!" Naruto frantically denied. "Of course, not! It's just, well, it's, uh, well, _business_." He glanced at Zabuza but quickly detoured his pleading gaze as Sakura growled. "I… Sakura, truthfully, I can't tell you anything aside from I need to go to _Mist_ for a month, may be two and-"

"What's business?" She didn't think the two-cent grocery store he worked in had business trips for its workers.

"Secret." He mumbled the word like one would do with a filthy curse.

"Even to me."

Naruto swallowed. "Yeah."

Sakura thought about Naruto and his habits of eating more ice cream than any human being could handle when they watched horror movie together. She thought about Hamburger night which was always on Friday, when Naruto would cook something for her, which was always fries and instant Mc Donald. She thought about him curling in his bed, hiding his face in the pillow because he had nightmares, had been screaming and was afraid of her hitting him like the _Kage's_ guardian had always done.

She thought about lots of thing, like when you told people to drop dead, it just meant you want them to go away and be sorry and she didn't want to let him go.

"Swear to me you're not doing anything illegal." Sakura demanded, and for once his clear blue eyes met her. If he was going, she's not going to beg him to stay. "Swear to me you're not doing anything stupid, anything that will fuck up your life, any god damned thing that I'd be ashamed of."

She thought about how much he had loved their apartment, the little kitchen, this Ichikaru place, how stupidly much he had stubbornly held to her, to Hinata, to this hellhole, even if it had rejected him from the start.

"I'll never let you down, Sakura." He smiled then, not just a flash of teeth, not the bright beam, but genuine smile, the one which showed his dimples and seemed to say: this is for you.

She gripped his hand, hard and harder and didn't want him gone and loved him absurdly.

"I'll be right back before you know I was gone." Naruto told her, beaming as the last shreds of sun light filtered weakly through the window, pass his golden blocks and casting shadow on her face. "Believe it, Sakura!"

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Believe she did not, but hell, it's a relief that she wouldn't need to lie to Naruto. After she watched him off to Mist, gone for God-know-how-long and refusing to shred a tear in front of Zabuza - who was also there to watch his buddy off - even if her nose was running, Sakura returned to her room in the Sound's lab. She passed some people in white coat and one girl with red hair gave her a filthy snicker.

"Crying for mommy?" The girl drawled and the white haired guy elbowed her not very subtlety. Both of them were chuckling snidely.

"Yeah, for yours." Sakura sneered back. "Aren't she _proud_ of the pain she's inflicting on the world after you and your awful hair popped out?"

"You Fucking Bitch! You hair looked like washed-out bubble-gum!" Karin snapped, which wasn't much of a clever comeback because such comments were _old_ and frankly, calling _names _are uncreative and boring. So, she flipped the pair her finger and strolled away, made sure her hips were rolled enough to irritating them.

Well, not liked being hated on the first sight was anything new to Sakura.

When she got back to her room, she thought about writing to her mother, asking how she was and telling her about Naruto. Though really, all she ever wrote was: _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm useless. I can't save both of you and I hate myself. I have tried everything but it's never good enough and I'm very, very, very sorry._

_Mom, will you forgive me?_

The letters were many, may be hundreds but the contents were never much different from each others. As Sakura depressingly pondered over when she would gather enough courage to send them – Ino and Naruto were right, _she's a_ _coward_ – her bedroom's door creaked open to reveal a girl with sleek long hair and the kind of face which would take even pretty girls' breaths away.

"Good evening." The gorgeous angel – this lady can't be human! – smiled. "I'm also a participant in Dr. Orochimaru's experiment."

"Uhm, hi." Cat always swallow her tongue when Sakura in dire need of it. She must look like a complete fool, stuttering and staring at the girl's shoes. She mumbled surly to the Prada heels. "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Lovely name." Even her voice was unbelievable smooth! Dr. Orochimaru's pills were destiny to fail! No way could Sakura ever surpass this beauty, this Natural Beauty! God, she wanted to cry in frustration. This could hardly be called a competition, damn it!

Sakura muttered dejectedly to her K-mart slipper. "Thanks, uhm…"

"I thought you know mine." Natural Beauty said, sweet as honey and almost seductive.

Sakura furrowed her brows. "I don't think so." She peeked daringly at the angelic face, trying to dig through her messy memories and failing epically at it. "Yeah, I don't think we've met." Though, this girl did look familiar. Celebrity?

"Well, I don't blame you. People tend to dismiss me easily on the street." Sakura thought that must be a lie because such face could not be anything but mesmerizing. Before she could protest, though, those gorgeous full lips formed a perfect smile and Sakura's hammering heart stilled for a moment. "My name is Haku. Nice to meet you, my bro's girl."

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**A/N: **Hm, HAKU! Oh, my God! I love him! I think Haku is like the top of coolness. Anyway, hope you like the chapter. Also, this might look like Naruto x Sakura kind of story but it's not. I assure you all, it's not. I still haven't decided yet, though. Suggestions?

My friend hit me for being lazy and ungrateful so, I decide that after all, if you've loved me enough to review, I should take this much time to reply!

**.CHoMP**: Thank you so much for your reviews! You have no idea how much I love and appreciate them! Made my day so much brighter! *kisses* Anyway, I'm happy that you like the dialogue. I thought the plot was dark so some elements of joy should be in there. Not many like my Sakura so I'm glad that you still stick with me. Don't worry, she'll get better soon and well, about the harem thing, *evil chuckles*, enough hints?

**Music1462: **You really think this story is amazing? *Hugs* Thank you! Mean a lot to me! Glad that you like chapter 3! I love Sai and his dynamic relationship with team 7. In fact, I prefer him to Sasuke! Hm, I'm not sure about Suigetsu and Kiba because I have roles for them but Akatsuki? Definitely yes! *Wink* Who do you want her to be with most?

**XxSeikaxX:** Always love your reviews! They are so long! Annnddd the Haku-murder story continues! I'm a bit worried that no one like chapter 4 but you, oh, you *tears* Anyway, I'm not sure if this fic is suspenseful enough to be classify as one. Frankly, I'm not sure what theme it is *shrug* Hope the waiting is worth it!

**Rawrgoesdandio**: Another loyal reviewer! Thanks so much! I love you! Hope that I update fast enough for your liking!

**LunarLemur:** Love your pen name! Sounds so mysterious! I hope you're still here to read this. Jiraiya always struck me as a sensible guy underneath all the perverted layers, so yeah, glad that you like him as he was.

Also, special thanks for **annie**, **sakuraluver**, **breakable** **bird**, **well** **then**, **Naruto** **fangirl**, **Lioness**, **Kaelin**, **VIP** **fan**, **Mydtyfog**, **Paraguay**! Love you all!

Thank you for reading! See ya!


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Sorry for the wait. I know many people are anticipating this chapter and I hope it's good enough for you. I'm still searching for Beta-Reader so if you're interested, please P.M me!

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. **

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"I should make it's clear that bro's girl or not," Haku said, inviting himself (herself?) to the seat across from Sakura. "I'll slice your throat opened if you throw a childish tantrum. It's not easy to get in here, you know?" Haku said conservative. "Lucky that I have connection here. It'll be ugly if I mess this up. Would you like some mints?" He asked, popping one in his mouth.

"What do you want from me?" Sakura blurted, gripping the table until she felt nothing but pain and thought how ridiculous that she's not dreaming.

"On what basics make you think I should want anything from you?" Haku inquired gently, taking his time as he relaxed in his seat, putting his mints away and surveying the room, as if he's a guest in a friendly host house. "May be I'm just wanting to say a simple hello and introduced myself to the most important girl in my bro's life."

"What do you want from me?" Sakura repeated, feeling cold sweats running down her back. There was hardly anything resembling female, angelic glows and sweet kindness in Haku now after Sakura realized whom she was dealing with.

"You're very frank but tell me, do I look like I'm looking for troubles?" Haku titled his head, eyes a warm shade of brown, inviting a friendly smile and somehow, Sakura thought she could see a glimpse of Naruto in him and nearly bit off her tongue in self-raging.

Of course her best friend was nothing similar to this criminal. Hanabi was a just a little child and now, she's gone.

Sakura checked her tone. "If polite conversations are on your mind, either you're crazy or you think I'm dim enough to believe that. Are you looking for Naruto?" She asked cautiously, fists curled tight on her thighs. "If that's the case, I don't know where he is."

Haku examined her face with blatant amusement. "He's in Mist. I ask him to go there."

She wanted to scream 'What?' in frustration but was able to restrain her inner demon and hissed "_Why_?" with a crushing amount of spite instead.

"Because it's safer for him there." Haku replied easily enough and Sakura felt her jaw ached from pressure.

"Safe?" She sneered. "I expect it's the furthest away he could get away from _you_ then."

Haku's clear gazes turned frostbite. "You don't know anything, Haruno. Don't use that high and mighty craps on me because I am not a gentleman like my bro."

"It's clearly obvious." Sakura remarked dryly, but she kept her voice low and once again, it's as if the walls were closing in both of them. She felt fear and panic clamming tight on her throat and what the hell Naruto was thinking?

She _knew_ it.

He's not the type to just up and out of his home for no reason.

But why?

_Secret_. Naruto had said.

Even from her. Sakura felt hopelessness and rage and sheer desperation swelled up like an awful storm of insects within her guts.

Haku sighed across the room, his slender shoulder relaxed and secretive face smoothed out from tension.

He looked angelic.

"This might sound abrupt but both bro and me need your help, Miss Haruno." When he opened his eyes to take in the gaping mouth and Sakura's wide eyes, he pursued with a softer voice, almost seductive. "Or, more specifically, me." He smiled, face contorted to weary resentment – almost shut down - and Sakura was reminded of a drown man. "_I _need your help and it's not a request."

Sakura knew a threat when she heard one and she also knew the Huyga's guards were hardly amateurs yet Haku had made it out alive.

"_How_?" Sakura asked, feeling a morbid curiosity stirred within her. "I mean I'm an average girl. I can't come up with any way that I could be useful to you."

Haku smiled brilliantly. "You are Sasuke Uchiha's friend."

Sakura flushed, like she always did at her crush's name before the rush of color and blood drained from her face. "What's that-" She suddenly wanted to be sicked. "You- No, you can't-"

"No. No, I won't." Haku laughed, light and so very feminine. "But don't tell me what I can and can't do, Haruno. You hardly know me."

She took a deep breath, fear coiled tight behind her carefully constructed coy smirk. "And I don't wish to. I don't know why you think I can help you or why I should in the first place but frankly," Sakura stretched her mouth, "_I_ won't screw up my life over a _Kage_." _Over_ _scum_ _like_ _you_. "You chose the wrong person."

Haku froze for a second - eyes wide and mouth stilled - and then, Sakura watched with unease fright as humanity left that beautiful face swiftly, like a roaring fire being snubbed by a bucket of cold water, leaving nothing but a devouring blankness behind.

This man had murdered a child and Sakura was just an arm-length from him.

Haku's voice was smooth as he leaned backward, charming and coated thick with scorn. "Hanabi Huyga was a cat person. Like me." His dark eyes gleamed. "It's too bad that her father is a bastard. Otherwise, we could have been friends."

_He came to me that day, with blood on his hands and I let him go. I let a murderer go. _

She swallowed, jerking her head sharply at the small camera she noticed Haku had glanced at when they first met. "Get out and don't make me do it the hard way."

They both knew the only thing restraining Sakura from screaming her head off when Haku's identity was revealed was Naruto and his vulnerable, stupidly big heart.

Haku slowly stood, but instead of stalking out of the room, he leaned across the table, taking Sakura's face with both hands. His palms were surprisingly rough, grossly hot against her icy skin and Sakura couldn't seem to open her throat.

It pressed shut with fear. Hanabi's grave face flicked across her mind and Sakura wanted to scream, to bust out in tears and beg for mercy when he loomed over her, close enough that dark hairs fell on her face, as if to wrap and engulf her completely.

"Accidents happen, Haruno." Haku breathed and for a brief, terrified moment, she thought he meant her but as he smiled, Naruto's beam dawned on her face, sincere and loving and faraway. "No one will miss a _Kage_."

_No one will miss a faceless orphan._

Sakura slammed her head at Haku's mouth.

Naruto's brother choked out a gasp, reeling backward as Sakura caught his collar, yanking him back so her eyes caught his, held them with absolute rage. "Don't mess with me, son of a bitch!" She snarled, didn't care that she's spitting on the bastard's face, didn't even register who she was dealing with. "Don't you dare mess with _me_! He saved your fucking ass once! He is-was-_is_ your fucking friend!"

"…He's with my men." Haku replied, mouth curled yet his eyes belonged to the dead, forever lifeless and resentful and Sakura shoved him back in disgust. She would need to scrub her face with boiling water later.

"He thought you're better than him." Sakura sneered, gripping her wrist so her trembling hands would be stilled. "He's a fucking retard."

Haku swiped his bleeding lips with his sleeves, climbing to his feet as the door bolted opened and people spilled in frantically - Kabuto the lead.

"What's going on here, ladies?" The man snapped sharply, and Sakura knew he was directing his rage at her. They must have seen everything on the camera and well, only Sakura's face was visible to them and the odds were definitely against her.

"I… Sir, I don't know myself." Haku – the bastard – turned, lips pouting and a sad, sad face at the mercy of public.

As Sakura glanced back and forth from Haku to Kabuto, she knew she should have ripped open that sweet mask, handing him to the cops and getting this mess all over and done with. She knew she should have gone with her common senses and saved herself from all the troubles and fear and _crimes _or God knows what this murderer wanted from her but all she could think about was: Naruto.

_He's my only friend in that God damned hell hole! We_ _were_ _friends_.

He had sobbed and he had loved his only family on earth and he had freed this murderer. Sakura would never understand why she didn't choose to protect her safety, _Sasuke's_ safety and God knows how many more people's safety over a silly, stupid sentiment.

"_She's_ a bitch." Sakura announced, glaring sharply at Haku. "I have had enough of her yapping about her perfect life, her perfect face, her perfect body. Get her the fuck out of my sight or I'll kick her in the gut this time."

Kabuto narrowed his furious eyes on Sakura. "It isn't enough an excuse to assault a colleague because she's ten times more pleasant for the eyes than you, Haruno San."

The guards behind him jeered nastily. Karin's the loudest.

"Pissed off." Sakura spat at Kabuto, ignoring the sharp intakes of breath and outrageous cries from the audiences.

"Mr. Orochimaru shall hear about this!"

Sakura wasn't sure she particularly cared whether her boss would be pissed. She was sure as hell cared when Haku beamed in satisfaction and Sakura knew she had just done the stupidest mistake a human being could ever do but it was Naruto and hell, does anything worth a shot? It's Naruto!

Even if Sakura had just placed herself at Haku's mercy – or mercilessness - without knowing what he had in mind.

"You're screwed." Karin snickered once everyone had left and as the red head snapped the door shut, Sakura gave up on her wobbling legs.

Indeed she was.

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But during the next few days, Haku left her alone.

Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about Haku acting as if the ruthless threats and dirty black mails had never happened. She should have felt relief that none of the murdering plans and getting her involving with his killing schemes had popped up but instead, she just felt even more unease and miserable.

There were hundreds of unresolved mysteries Sakura couldn't seem to find the answers. How could a guy, albeit very pretty but still male, be the other control group? Shouldn't they have chosen a girl? And how could he was still in Konoha? Did Naruto know Haku still here? Did Naruto know his trip was planned by Haku? Did Naru-

"Excuse me, Haruno San." The timid voice Naruto had come to love halt Sakura's stream of endless confusion. Naruto would have wanted her to.

"Yeah?" Simple, not too fancy, not too long and not too _cold_.

"Uhm, uhm." Hinata bit her lips, the full lips Naruto had always babbling about and Sakura wished she had something – a book, perhaps - to keep her eyes from staring at those pretty features and being resentful. Eventually, after a brief silence which felt like a century for both parties, Hinata pushed out with tremendous effort. "Have you seen Naruto? I, uh, I want to-"

"No. Been busy with my life." Sakura cut in, tapping at the table. "Anything else?"

Hinata looked close enough to say no, but by some miraculous strength she obtained in the name of love, she stood her ground. "You're living with him, Miss Haruno." _Not_ _anymore. _Sakura didn't need this girl to remind her of what she was sorely missing and crazily anxious for. "I just want to talk to him and-"

"Do you listen?" Sakura tried to explain kindly, but even _she_ heard the frustrated snarl in her voice. "I don't know where he is! That retard's dead body could be ditched in a shit hole for all I know."

Which was perfectly possible and Sakura hated herself for always fretting over someone else's boyfriend.

"You don't have to be a bitch about it, Haruno." Kiba growled heatedly, giving up on obvious ear dropping and storming close to the pair. He looked like he wanted to put a reassuring arm on Hinata's frail shoulder but left it hovering as a fist in the air instead.

Sakura resisted the urge but she knew she was flushing red to the tips of her hair. Had she been that obvious? Hinata's eyes were shimmering with tears, to her everlasting disgust and everlasting guilt to feel so.

"I'm sorry." She said, abandoning her seat and pushing pass the pair. "I need some fresh air." She muttered, but not like any one cared to listen. They were all paying rapt attention to Hinata and Kiba, who was making a fuss about Naruto's girl's tears and how more obvious a guy could be?

Outside, she tried to call Naruto, after stealing the biggest pot of coffee she could carry to a rural ground. When the phone couldn't connect, Sakura smacked it down the grass and drank from the pot, instead of the cup she had brought along just in case she was in the mood for decency.

Only, she wasn't and would never be from now.

"You look in urgent need of stress-relieving therapy." Shikamaru's voice floated from the sky and when Sakura looked up to see him lying on a particular thick and big tree branch. "PMS-ing?"

"Worry about yourself. You're bounded to crash and break your neck soon. Even though, you're not Chouji, you're not exactly Lee either, Nara." Sakura tossed back bitterly, shuffling so she wouldn't be caught in the fire if such an accident did happen. You would never be too cautious.

"What are you doing up there anyway?" She demanded. "Not tailing Yamanaka anymore? Finally giving in to your nature calling? Introduce me to your bird buddies, will you?"

"Uchiha has a basketball match today." Shikamaru yawned.

The name set her mind racing between a pair of bored dark eyes and Hanabi's eternally wide gaze from the photo in her funeral. Sakura drew her shoulder closed and bit her lips.

If Shikamaru noticed anything strange – and he always did with everything, the sharp bastard - he didn't mention it. "It'd be weird to be the only chap amongst his birds of paradise. It's troublesome to give off the wrong vibes… if you know what I mean."

Sakura didn't think Sasuke would leap in joy at Shikamaru's come-hither vibes but she didn't say anything.

Shikamaru added. "Anyhow, I thought _you_ should be there with her."

Sakura shot him an outrageous look. "I will do nothing _with_ her. We just happen to be in the same place at the same time because of Sasuke." Sakura curled her lips in ire, trying to shut her mind from last night, pushing away thoughts of future and feeling the insane urge to attack someone.

Perhaps, not Shikamaru because his hair could poke any human's eyes out any day.

"Anyway, you're here to snore your life away and I'm here to sulk over mine so how about you stopped being a smartass and- Don't smoke, you twit! What if I get a fucking cancer? I don't want to waste my lung away, especially when I didn't even smoke! Studies show that inhaling smokes from a smoker is a deadly move and-"

"Women." Shikamaru concluded in the tone that meant he had discovered some philosophical idea only a lazy bum like him could do. How could he be in ANBU again? Must have something to do with his mother being a professor here.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, lighting his cigarette either way. "Being a professor doesn't mean she could cheat my way in, Haruno."

Sakura blazed red a second time that day, lashing out because that's the only way she knew how to defend herself. "I never said anything about your _mummy_, Nara." Which she felt would have won her the first place in Lamest Comeback and You're a Loser competition.

"Which is good, because I don't know how I can handle you talking about her." He got a point. Sakura knew the capability of her loud mouth and its horrible carelessness.

Normally, she would have bid something sharply back, but, only, Shikamaru was a laid-back bastard and he hadn't meant it in a cruel way. Plus, she wanted some distraction from the mad life she was trapped in. "How is… Chouji?" She leaned against the tree trunk, steering the topic to a safer shore.

"… Not too bad. Have just passed his big exam and owning the diploma for business now." Shikamaru yawned again, as if talking actually strained him physically. "He'll open a small restaurant soon. Barbeque and similar troublesome stuffs."

Sakura hadn't been that interested in the plump boy, who was always an odd addition when he walked next to skinny Shikamaru and super-model Ino, but she wanted something to talk about.

"Thanks for… not taking the scholarship away last time."

Sakura had come second on the test she ditched, which she thought had something more to do with her tardiness than her knowledge on the subject. ANBU had always been famous for its outstanding _discipline_ and intelligent students.

"_She_ would chew my head off if I did and by _she_, you know who I'm talking about." Everything just seemed to come back to Ino and her perfect, bigger than life self.

Any good-will to chat vanished as if Shikamaru had thrown a massive ice bucket into Sakura's face. She stood up, dusting grass off her jean. "I'm over that pig and her meddling habit. I don't need her cheap pity," She glanced up the pair of lazy brown eyes, which was narrowing into slits. "Or yours, Nara."

"Don't overestimate yourself, Haruno. You never have it in the first place." Shikamaru drawled, cold and cruel. "You never deserve it."

She turned her back on him and walking back to her class. Thunder crossed the sky and she dialed her best friend again, to hear the familiar voice, to be assured that he's her friend, that he's safe, that he'd never leave her alone and even if she made some horrible, horrible mistake, they would still be together.

For a second, a brief, short instant, Naruto's boyish face turned girlishly beautiful in a way Sakura had always wished she could and she had always thought Ino's smile was pretty.

Even now.

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"Are you fucking nuts?" Hidan stared at his boss.

Pein tried not to be impatient and just nodded emotionlessly. "I do understand it's hard for-"

"It's fucked up to mess around with minors, sir." Hidan cut in with his arms crossed, face perfectly scandalized. "I refuse to be a fucking pedophile. Lord Jashin will castrate me, sir."

"She won't be a minor in a week, yeah." Deidara leered outrageously over his partner's shoulder at the profile all of them were eying. "I'm-finally-18 desperate sex is the best, you know?"

"Lust is a useless and feeble sentiment." Sasori shifted in annoyance, as he always did when emotions and something relating to humanity came up.

"Just because you fail as a man doesn't make us all the same, yeah." Deidara leaned back against his own chair, crossing his legs with raised chin. "Beside, lust motivates sex and sex is the most beautiful art, Sasori."

"Don't defile 'art' to something lowly as a cover over your dirty pervert mind." Sasori rolled his eyes. "Admit it. You're just desperate for a fuck."

"No. I'm honest with my art, yeah. Unlike you cheesy shit head who devote your _manly_ _purity_ to your imaginary sweetheart." Deidara spat the words with barely concealed repulsion. "Monogamy is a dire sin, Sasori. It's a fucking crime against civilization and it ain't art. The very purpose of human race is to fuck, yeah."

"If they use their dicks to think." Sasori drawled with a superior smirk and Pein slammed his fist against the table as Deidara started to advance on an equally furious Sasori.

"This meeting's purpose is not for childish squabbling, gentlemen. Refrain yourself." Pein rubbed his head, even though he knew peace and harmony would never be restored – not when his men were all stubbornly irredeemable assholes. "I'm calling you all here to discuss an important matter-" anger

"As if mind-rape a fucking chick is important." Hidan bridled edgily, sitting closet to the door. "I know bitches her ages. All desperate and annoying and hormonal. One cheap word and they are piles of mushy goos. Just assign Deidara or someone with gay pretty face like his. Stupid teenager girls are always head-over-heels for the Justin-Biever-looking motherfucker type after all."

"If you interrupted me one more time, I'll shot you in the head, Hidan." Pein told the Jashinist dryly, shifting slightly so his men caught the end of a gun inside his suit and Hidan scowled, sinking angrily into his chair, which practically implanted to the door by now and glared keenly, if not a bit longingly, at the window.

"It pains me to point out but Hidan does have a point, boss." Kisame spoke up next to Itachi, who had chosen to doze off as soon as the picture of the 'target' and the words 'seduction mission' popped up. "This Haruno girl isn't that significant for us to go all out. I mean, she's just an average-"

"Below average is still an understatement." Sasori corrected, massaging his eyes, as if the imperfect features of the photo could actually cause him physical pain. He also joined Hidan for a brief moment to cast their sad stares at the sky outside their office.

"I mean, she's ugly," Kisame agreed with gruff politeness, showing the influence a prolonged period of mostly being in the presence of an Uchiha would have on a thug, "_and_ low in rank, wealth and status. She's just a rural pumpkin girl, boss. It needn't be us. Any male could pick her up in a single move."

"Plus, she hasn't even gotten herself a boyfriend after 18 years!" Deidara chimed in, his gossiping mood resurfacing. "That's so lame, yeah."

"Image my shock." Sasor mumbled with his head bowed over the blank desk, fearful of flaws enough to prefer lifeless item.

"She's one of Orochimaru's experiments." Pein spoke, predictably halting any protests and drawing interest back to the main subject. _Sound_ and its notoriously dangerous fame in both legal and illegal worlds had never been a brush-off topic.

"What's kind of experiments?" Kazuku queried, looking calm and professionally interested after he picked up the blatant hints of generous rewards Pein had dropped throughout the meeting.

"Must be something sinful, that crazy bastard." Hidan spoke with passionate contempt. "Always trying to alter the courses of nature for fucking worthless shits like god damned profits. If he isn't a coward and always hides behind a dozens of fucking meat heads, I would have sacrificed his slithering tongue to Lord Jashin."

"And be promoted to Fairy-hood and save us all from your bloody water bills, you fake monk. As if you're the one to talk about sins and hell." Kazuku accused with chilled scorn, because it's in Pein's men's nature to seek war and inviting migraines to their boss's graying head.

While Hidan started a savage brawl with Kazuku, Zetsu cocked his head at Pein. "Does this have anything to do with… him?"

Pein felt a twitch between his eyebrows, like he had always automatically done when anyone mentioned _him_.

Zetsu should have known without Pein's replies. Of course, with a mission this insignificant - not to mention, retarded - yet requiring such massive force of all _Dawn_ members, it had to bolt down to _him_, the man who considered everything a game and who would never played one without an unnecessarily dramatic touch.

"When will this mission start?" Kisame asked, face of a man who had accepted his miserable fate and was waiting for the suffering to be over and done with.

"The end of this month." Pein said, sympathized the pained face of his employees. "At the Inuzaka-Huyga engagement."

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.

.

Sakura had started to think that her life seemed to be a chain of eternal despair and endless tragedy.

"_What_?"

"I know it's crazy and derange and how could Dickless's woman do it? I mean, Beast Boy clearly shares his hygiene gears with his _dog_." Sai was ranting but all Sakura could think was _Naruto_.

She had come to Fat Burger, in hope that somehow, she could find a link to Naruto, seeing how he practically lived there. She had tried asking around for Zabuka, the man who had provided the traffic means for Naruto but in vain.

No one had heard of him and no one even seemed to remember Naruto.

_Just another faceless Kage_.

Sakura should have known that it's impossible to find a shadow* once it reunited with darkness.

She was in absolute despair and then, Sai just had to drop the bomb.

Hinata and Kiba, Sakura thought back to the morning class and grit her teeth.

_It'll_ _kill_ _him_.

Literally.

"She chose me." Naruto had always mumbling when he's drunk. "How amazing is that?"

Hinata had chosen him when others had rejected him. She had loved him and had shown him that even him, a lowly Kage, could find a life-mate and now, she had abandoned him and Sakura resented her self for the unholy triumph of the thought that Naruto was hers now.

Hers and hers alone to keep.

"I reckon the Huyga clan is shaken by Hanabi's murder." Sai continued on, oblivious to the storm of emotion in Sakura. "They are trying to secure their only daughter left with a big clan like theirs, I think. More allies, less enemies. Beside, I always suspect Beast Boy has a severe crush on Dickless's woman. Did you notice he has crazy eyes whenever Dickless is nearby?- Thank you, Gorgeous." Sai said politely to the waitress, who rewarded him with a glowing beam and leaned down lower than necessary with her curves pilling down her shirt.

"Thanks, Ami." She piped up at the same waitress, who never spared her a glance whenever they were there and Sakura rolled her eyes at the blank look Sai was giving his eighty something loyal fan, as if he had no idea why she was still lingering near them even though her duty was undoubtedly over.

After approximately five minutes of endured awkwardness, the busty waitress finally dejectedly bustled back to her job. She looked immensely disappointed by Sai's lack of interest, or more accurately in Sakura's mind, his lack of basic understanding in normal emotional attachment.

"She lives one floor above your apartment for – wait for it – two damned months already." Sakura tasted her mocha ice cream, aware of the females' attentions upon the clueless, may-be-very-good-looking guy sitting across her and tried not to roll her eyes in disgust. "And we are always here on this time in this day of the week. God, I bet you don't even know Naruto's last name."

"It starts with U." Sai's brows weighted down slightly in concentration. "And if it helps, I think your name relating to something weedy and cheesy… Sakura… Uhm… Haru? Must be it. How I'm doing?"

"I run out of words- no, that's a lie. I just don't want to tell you. I think I might cry." Sakura told him dryly. "Anyway, even if the Huyga is sucking up to the Inuzaka and Hinata is forced into this engagement, I still think it is uncalled for. She should have fought harder. She should have threatened to commit suicide. It should be called cheating, you know?"

"They were never an official couple." _They_ _were_ _never_ _anything._

Sakura wished she could poke this bastard's eyes without any legal charge against deliberate harassment. No one would miss him, she was sure.

"They were never a public show-off couple, Sai." Sakura corrected severely. "That doesn't mean she isn't Naruto's girl or that she can go off the trail, marrying a dog-obsessed jackass when Naruto's not here!"

"Dickless's woman has been asking around for him the whole week." Sai must have heard about Sakura callously snapping at _poor_, _loveless_ Hinata. "I think she wants to tell him herself, lest he heard it through others or gossips. May be we should respect her choice."

"I think she should shove her concern up her cheating ass." Sakura concluded balefully, but both of them knew the last one who was going to announce the bad news would be Sakura.

"Where's Dickless, anyway?" Sai asked, wide eyes, as if he hadn't noticed their friend's loud absentness for a whole week and come to think about it, may be Sai genuinely didn't. May be he did but didn't care enough to ask.

"On the quest of conquering and uniting Five Kingdoms." Sakura muttered, wishing feverishly that what she said had been the truth. "I hope his carnivorous horse might chew his dense head off. What the hell take him so long not to call me?- No, thanks." Sakura waved away Sai's offer for cream.

"Your loss." He shrugged, adding half the bottle on his strawberry smoothies. It's a wonder how Sai was never labeled queer with his tight jean, artistic hands and unhealthy obsession to sweet. "And duh. Like Dickless forgets he has a phone is something new. I still can't believe he doesn't know what _Facebook_ is."

"You should see him when I first moved in." Sakura insisted. "I have to lock my bed room for the first week because that retard developed lustful epilepsy for my _Apple_ _laptop_! He even names it _Kira_ because it's the first advanced technology of the 21st century that lives in his house!" Sakura added with a grimace. "Beside the obvious, of course."

Sai mused. "I suppose it's a good idea I rejected sharing a living quarter with both of you."

"Excuse me? Are we discussing _me_ now?" Sakura glowered; halting her cup of tea from entering her mouth just in case the bastard would say something stupid and she could just splash it in his face. "For your information, Naruto had to beg and throw himself at my feet to have me moving in with him."

"He's broke at that time. He'd have kissed the ground you walked on as long as the bills are cut to half." Sai pointed out. "Beside, I would rather dive off the hill than seeing your distasteful face everyday."

Sakura had to give Sai a point in being calm at the time of need.

He only blinked and wiped his face with tissue even though the whole shop was staring as Sakura set her empty cup down. Sai said like a guy who hadn't been tossed tea in the face every single week. "An ugly face _and_ a perverse habit of irrationally lashing out on other people. I'm easily traumatized, I might have you know."

"Your sense of humor is traumatizing me." Sakura declared reproachfully. "And you really think I want to live with you? After all those insane shopping trips and insane all-nighters for your stupid tests and being exposed to your insane social skills _daily_? Shit, now, I have all these terrible flash backs. You are insane and your insanity is a fatal assault to both my mental and physical well-being."

"Frankly, you're gibbering." Sai commented with an air of a suffering man.

"_Frankly_," Sakura pointed out darkly, "I suspect you have been bullying me all this time- No, I actually believed it. Do you know how victimized I feel everyday? Studies have shown that bullying can affect teenager's brain and loss of self-esteem-"

Sai cut in. "If I did bullying you, you have been bullying me right back." He gazed at Sakura's empty cup accusingly. "I should have known better than to let you order that mocha ice cream. It must be full of _sugars_."

"I think," Sakura, indeed, felt a bit dizzy and unnaturally light, "may be the ice cream was spiked."

"And why should anyone spike your mocha ice cream?" Sai asked truthfully. "Only you could be crazy enough to be drunk on sugar, Ugly." He said, but he was smiling and not that fake one which always seemed to sweetly sparkle but the one that made his face look thinner, almost withdrawal and lips slightly crooked at the edge and dazzlingly real. "And I do remember your name, Ugly. Sakura …Harumo, right?"

"I'm weeping with _pride_." Sakura's lips tugged involuntarily.

Light shone through the window, fell full on both of their faces and Sakura thought she should call Naruto again, in case he really was safe and just simply didn't know how to use his phone.

Sai dropped her off at Sound and when Sakura entered her room, she had exactly 1 minute to feel queasy by the sight of Haku on her sofa before the bastard pointed at her desk and she spotted a small package.

"Proof that I'm sincere with my words." Haku smiled at her as he strolled out of the room. "As long as you're good, I can play nice." And the door shut closed.

There was a sticky note on the wrapped paper and Sakura was crazy enough to almost busting out crying at the familiar messy hand-writing:

_To Sakura Chan! (Haku, you bastard! Eardrop and I'll kick your ass! Believe it!) _

Sakura tore the wraps cautiously and found an orange recorder inside. She thought about listening to it right away, but the dull throbs in her stomach were edging on painful now. She had her meds in the bathroom, rushing back to the desk then feeling brainless for being amazed that the recorder was still lying there.

Of course it was real and of course, it was from Naruto. Sakura tried holding to the last shred of dignity and held her relief sighs as Naruto's booming, obnoxiously soothing voice streamed through the ear phone.

**Hi, Sakura! **

**It's me, the legendary Naruto who's gonna be Japan's leading president! Believe it!** *Someone laughs in the background* **Shut up, I'm busy sending a message here, Kankuro! No! I'm not illiterate! I just prefer talking! Of course I know how to use a phone! ***Awkward laughs* **Totally know how! Uh, I, well, I just don't like- What did you call me! Argh! Die, you bastard! **

*Some smacking, loud swearing, howls of pain, door slamming* **No! I'm not running, you jack ass! I'm talking to Sakura! I'll deal with you later!** *Voice returned to normal, slightly miffed*** I'm telling you, Sakura, some people are born being jerks! Shesh!**

Sakura bit her lips so no giggles, or God forbid, emotional chokes, could escape. Pain flared sharply in her head but she was determined to ignore it.

**Oh, where was I? Ah! Sakura Chan! I miss you a lot! Are you alright? You must be fine, yeah?** *Sounds smug* **I specifically order Haku there to look after you. I mean, leaving a maiden like you alone in such dangerous place? Uncool! You must be having a biggest crush on me now that you see how noble and thoughtless I am right? **

_You idiot_, Sakura wanted to roll her eyes but couldn't bring herself to stop the tears. _Why do you even have to worry about me? Look after your self for once, you dumb, retarded idiot! _

**I know, I know. ***Satisfied laughter* **Anyway, I wish you're here with me, Sakura! I'm having a blasted time in Sand! We stopped here before we reached Mist and the foods are awesome!**

*Voice depressed* **Not as good as the old man's burgers, though. You have to eat there regularly, Sakura! I know you hate junk food but I really, really, really miss Ichikaru and you have to eat my share! Oh, bring Haku there as well! **

*Outrageous huffs* **I mean, can you believe it? He never has an Ichikaru Fat Burger! Impossible! Can't understand how he's alive! A scandal! ***More mutterings before perking up*** How's Sai asshole? I totally very don't care but-**

Sakura smiled, curling her aching body as she closed her eyes and let Naruto's voice drilled in her head.

Naruto had always been an annoying part of her life. He was an attention-whore. He was a fashion catastrophe. He was a social offence. And he was so bright, so blindingly passionate that sometimes Sakura felt like a deflated balloon caught in Naruto hurricane.

**-totally, totally amazing! Huh? Where were we? Ah! Right! So, anyway, Sakura Chan. ***Suddenly, smaller voice* **Listen, this is very important and I want you to be warned. There is something going on in Konoha and Sasuke- **

The recorder was tossed to the floor. Sakura couldn't even be able to bring it to a safer place before sheer shattering pain engulfed her, as if her spines were snapped in half, and her eyes seemed to bleed red.

Suddenly, blood was everywhere, the room was ripped apart by her howling screams and many people was pinning her down.

"What's happening?" Someone yelled in horror.

Sakura could faintly recognized Kabuto's struggling voice. "It's starting. Call Dr. Orochimaru and god damned it, don't just stand there! Move her to the emergency department right now! Move it, you fools!"

And the nightmares officially began.

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**A/N**: God, that was hard. This chapter is like a turning point so it was very difficult to write… In case anyone's not sure what just happened, the transformation starts and it's gonna be hell… Uh, at least, we all know she's gonna survive after all. Anyway, sorry I took ages to update. I just hardly have time these days so as an apology I wrote this chapter twice the normal length. *winks* Hope you enjoy it.

**Music1462**: First one to review *hug* Thanks a lot for you support! And don't mind me! I loooveee Talkative people! DeiSaku? Definitely will come soon! Don't you worry! (And hope you're not disappointed by my Kiba-Hinata plan. *Sad*)

**.CHoMP****: **You're being very honest, which is good and frankly, I don't think I like my version of Sakura that much. I mean, she's so careless and somewhat selfish, but I don't want her to be a Mary Sue. I want her personality to be round… Actually, if you don't mind, list what you like in her as a character! I would love a second opinion on her personality!

**Rawgoesdandino**: Hey, thanks! *Tears* As I said, not many like her so I'm very, very moved when one said she does. Thank youuuu!

**Kireicomplex: **Welcome! I love your avatar! So cute! *Winks* And about the OOC business review, you made my _month_! I'm just this close to tears! Thank you! And how can anyone possibly resist Sakura Harem? I'm obsessed with them! They are my life force! Harem will come soon! Believe it!

**Muzikal Soul**: After this chapter, hints enough? *Evil grin*

**Paraguay**: This chapter isn't as good as the last because it doesn't have much humor but then, I don't think we could find much humor amongst crimes and criminals. I like that your have got the gist of last chapter in a single, brief review. How very smart and unlike me! *Wistful pout*

**XxSeikaxX**: Oh, friend, oh, friend. Have anyone told you what an absolutely delight and an overwhelming boost of inspiration you totally are? If no author has declared that, I call dibs! *Tears* Thank you very much! You can't possibly image how happily crushed I am when I saw your name and the beautiful review underneath it! Thank you! I hope you like this chapter. Things are heating up, although, it still doesn't have much romance, which I apologize. But then, I'm a fan of slow romance and well, don't we all want something important instead of just a silly crush? *Winks*

**Blueflamefreak:** I have been told this before and sorry, I still couldn't find a beta… Perhaps, you would like that spot? *Hopeful smiles*

**MistakenMusic**: Thanks. Your review is just what I need to continue writing. You have a good way with words, just so you know. Damn! Now, I'm falling for your review!

Special thanks for **la canella** as well.

Stay tune for next update, which will be soon! Hope this chapter is worth the wait! Love you all, my readers and love you even more, my reviewers!


	7. Chapter 6

The seconds Sakura opened her eyes, she nearly screamed by the sight of Haku's angelic face.

"What the hell- Fuck…" She gasped, clutching the blanket tight to her chest and bid out a groans as waves of pain hit her spine.

"Very delicate, you." Haku remarked dryly, though he still had his face on top of her.

"Put your face away." Sakura snapped. "I don't want to see it the first thing in the morning."

Haku pushed himself back and smiled with ice. "Well, I was just admired your peculiar face and changed. Kabuto is waiting for us."

There are many things Sakura Haruno should worry about. None of them, however, had anything to do with cross-dressing and prancing around with high collared suit and the most hideously shaving head.

"_You_ may not having any problem dressing as a boy, _madam,_" Sakura grit resentfully at Haku, "but I do. I really do."

"You don't suit being a boy," Haku agreed with a thoughtful smile, "but you aren't a pretty girl either. I think you would die a lonely death as a bitter old bat either way. Why bother?"

Kabuto certainly didn't bother to hide his insulting chuckles. Sakura hated them all.

"I'm a patient." Sakura declared. "If you exert me, especially on my mental health, which you are all doing," she narrowed her eyes at the small camera Kabuto thought she hadn't figured out for the last two weeks, "I might have trauma."

"All of our doctors believe you can function normally now." Kabuto chimed in her rant with a pleased smile. "After all, what happen to your body is a change in homeostatic system, or hormones, and chemical changes don't usually take long for the body to adapt. You're doing fine."

"My face is not fine." Sakura pointed out resentfully, resisting the urge to touch the sudden bust of invading pimples on her face since the other day. She always knew she wasn't good looking, but Sakura had never been more thankful that she hadn't had any pimples before.

But, now, she did and Sakura wasn't impressed by both the oiliness and the itchiness these hormonal changes, which supposed to make her desirable, had done to her skin.

"Yeah." Haku agreed sympathetically. "You look absolutely unique. I'm just not sure which way people take it as."

"Have anyone said you are a charming conversationalist?" Sakura wanted to strangle the little brat.

"And owning a silver tongue as well. I'm _a charmer_." Haku curled the corner of his mouth so his face narrowed in a way that Sakura couldn't reason how no one had thought he might be an evil transgender before.

"Well, they are all damned blinded." Sakura insisted, turning to watch the moving street as Kabuto cleared his throat and started to going on about manners and what lady should do.

Sakura didn't think it was exactly the right things to lecture both of them because the next ten minutes, Sakura was keenly aware of how a Fat burger would feel before it was promptly scoffed down by Naruto, providing it's dressed in an oversized, itching suit, uncomfortable chest binding and head bared without its usual hair to hide its neighbor's – the deformed face - emotions.

"I wasn't aware that we have an audition." Sakura muttered to Haku, because he was the only familiar face and the rest of the room was fill by of extraordinary good-looking boys and Sakura had always felt the need to hear her stupid voice when she's anxious.

"They are the best entertainment company in the Land of Fire, perhaps even the Five Kingdoms." Haku breathed back, face smooth and composed. Sakura supposed that when you had a beautiful face, you had nothing to fear.

Sakura always was ridiculously nervous when exams involved so as a huge guy strode in the room, she had her back straight and already rehearsed dozens of possible answers for dozens of imaginary job-interviewing questions, some of which involving: 'Could you dance if the company requested you to?", in which she answered that she could wiggle.

The man gestured for all of them to follow him and soon, Sakura swallowed with fright at the sight of many men in various position scattering around the square room. The fact that she and the rest of the boys were stood in the middle of the room, like a bands of thieves being judged by a hordes of angry farmers didn't really help her tender nerve.

Sakura had never been more aware of her face and the size of her naked forehead.

"At this rate," A man muttered indiscreetly to his friend, "this company is gonna go bankrupt soon, yeah. I know we aren't serious about this stuff but look at these ugly lots! No, look at that one! _God_!"

"I'll pass." His friend grumbled with his head bowed to the floor. "My eyes will _perish_."

Sakura knew just exactly where the sore gaze of the first man, who was dressed in a scandalous low jean and shocking tight tee, was directed. She resented the stupid designer of this building for not thinking ahead and carelessly failing to equip this huge, luxurious room with a dog hole so she could crawl down and died there.

"Are you okay?" Haku tugged on her fingers and sent her what normal people would call a reassuring smile, full of sympathy and understanding, but Sakura knew better than those idiots. This was _Haku_!

Sakura blurted with a scowl and an irrational flood of hot flame to her cheeks. "I'm fine! Of course, I am! I always am! Never better!"

"It's astonished me how ignorant people are of their face. Perhaps that's why most of the populations are still alive. They just don't use mirror that much." The first man spoke up louder, face twisting with fraud pity at her. "It makes me so sad, yeah."

Sakura bit her lips and glared at the sharp, leather boots of the man. Kabuto had said clearly that if she messed this opportunity off, Dr. Orochimaru would prove to her that the rumor of him being a ruthless man was indeed very true.

"The fuck with these assholes?" The door suddenly slammed wide opened and one of the new arrivers growled loudly. "I'm in the middle of an important ritual and you fuckers drag me here for this shit? The fuck is with your heads?"

"Boss's order." A large man with a face of a shark told the new comer while dispersing sympathized sighs. "Just get to your seat and be done with these lots."

The newest comer swept a chilling glare over them all and spat. "Bullshits! Boss could eat shits and die for all Jashin's sake! The fuck is with those jackasses? They all look like cock suckers and we already got Deidara for that position! Is this place transforming into a flaming homo lair now?"

Sakura was so viciously pleased to see the man I-am-not-gay-in-closet-Deidara - flushed pure red with hot rage and seeming on the verge of hyperventilation that she didn't care whether the swearer had shown a disturbing amount of foul language in his speech or he had a face of a blood-craved rapist.

Sakura liked the man right on the first sight. In fact, if you didn't notice his savage mouth, savage scowl and an unsettling habit of a homophobic, the man could pass as extraordinary handsome.

Sakura supposed that the theory that all hot guys are either gays or psychopaths did have some merits.

"I mean- what the fuck!" The nice man with his pure holy glow shot her a glance and reeled backward with rapid speed. "Lord Jashin!" He yelled with perfectly scandalized voice. "Please, shine your light upon me and allow us mortal to sacrifice this worthless shit to you! How dare you eye-rape me, you Voldermort clone!"

All eyes were shone on Sakura like moths to fire and she tried not to wilt in utter humiliation.

"Sir." Her voice was miraculously steady despite the screaming terror of the situation. "Frankly, how you image I could possibly choose you to be my one hundred and thirteen victim is beyond me. Though," she checked him out coyly, because once, there was rage in Sakura's nervous system, all her rational senses fled in a mad rush and she heard them scream helplessly as she sneered. "Believe me, sir. Lame loser never makes it to my leap-and-ravish list."

The sight on Lord-Jashin-is-my-everything-man's face soothed Sakura's inner demon with a flush of pride, but logic soon dejectedly found its home and Sakura was left with a foreboding sense of doom as she glanced at her _manager_ from the corner of her eyes.

Kabuto's face was woe itself.

Sakura was rather thankful that Naruto's fake ID had finished and the money had left her banker forever. Now, she would have to consider ways to pay her enormous debt aside from selling her organs or becoming a drug dealer by next month.

So, while her thoughts were swarming with slaving jobs for the next thirty years, Sakura didn't think much of what she said as the interview started. Why should she care? It's over for her now. She had made two men out of seven her enemies and the rest either had stony faces or crazy eyes.

When Sakura heard a man with glaring green hairs and downright derange grin asked Haku how long he would prefer humane coprse to rot before he _theoretically_ devour it, she had a world of sympathy for a stuttering Haku, despite him being, well, _Haku_.

"You have a face of a chick." The man whose face resembled a marine species shot at her.

Sakura replied distractedly. "I wouldn't comment on anyone's face if I was you, sir."

Shockingly enough, Gay-in-denial-phase Deidara barked a loud laugh with the rest of the men. Even Shark-face allowed a forced good-humored grin.

Sakura wasn't impressed by the obvious tendency of S and M fetishes.

She wasn't impressed either when Kabuto looked relief enough to kiss her in the mouth as the result came out that both Haku and her passed the test.

By the look on the Dawn men, her life was more or less what she would live as, if Dr. Orochimaru decided to sue her jobless ass.

Jashin-is-the-love-of-my-life man grinned sharply at her from across the room, suddenly looked towering and huger than life. "Welcome to hell, Sa Haruno."

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Sakura thought it should be obvious that Haku and her _must_ stick together as partner in crime, or in cross-dressing department, yet, her seniors had quite different idea.

"You two don't complement each others." Zetsu the tree-man explained at Sakura's indignant. "To attract people's attention, you need something special to stand out. Both of you should be different but not outshone each other."

Sakura scowled. She knew just what he was talking about, though Haku looked clueless, which was just plainly annoying. "Fine. Whatever."

So, Sakura ended up with a tall guy wearing a flamboyant ginger mask, who also showed disturbing evidences of being able to be high all the time.

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Naruto might have touched her heart and Sasuke Uchiha could have been the key to open it but Ino Yamanaka had been the first one to enter.

Ino was the kind of girl every girl wanted to be and until now, Sakura still had no idea how they had been friends.

She had been nobody, living in a shadow, in a resentful darkness of envy and guilt and constant self-hatred. Those days of loneliness and being lost in life had been the nightmares Sakura visited constantly during nights so cold, so black that even though Naruto was a heart beat away, she still felt gripped by fear.

It had been the lowest period of life Sakura had been through.

And then, magically, the sun had reached out and light discovered Sakura.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka." Ino had introduced her self, face bright with an assured happiness Sakura had never been able to obtain. "Let's be friends."

And friends they were.

"Sakura, do this homework for me! It's totally bullshits! Why should we be in school again?"

"Sakura, my hair will be an absolute disaster! I can't do PE! In fact, I refuse to because I have been incurred by a fatal illness! Write me a letter to Mr. Gai, please!"

"Sakura, what the hell is with those clothes? Did someone from World War 1 donate them to you? I'm positively appalled as your best friend and I won't hand out with you if you don't burn them now! _Burn_ them! Now!"

Ino had been an annoying nuisance back then. She was the girl who always copied Sakura's work. She was the girl who was no better than the mean bullies in her class with her demanding big mouth and swaggering self-center attitude. She was the girl who always flirted, absolutely comfortable in her own body and its curves whereas other girls her ages might have been embarrassed by it.

She was loud. She was obnoxious. She burnt Sakura's sweaters and forced her to spend ridiculous moneys on ridiculous expensive clothes. She never considered that Sakura might hate her new hair or her new clothes and she was a total bitch.

But even when Ino was a bitch, Sakura didn't need her any less.

"Oh, hush! Stop crying! Why are you crying? You're pretty enough! Why do you listen to other people? Don't you know that crying make your eyes swollen? Don't cry, you stupid girl!" Ino had snapped one day, face red and hands tightly clutched the hankerchief she had used to wipe Sakura's wet face after a particular nasty fake picture of her with the forehead swallowing her face.

Ino had always hated tears and she had reasons to do so. She was so clumsy and awkward and she had never known what to say.

Ino once said that at the sight of tears, her brain shut itself down and the lobe that was responsible for words flung itself out of the window but Sakura didn't think she would have traded Ino for anyone.

_You're pretty enough_.

Sakura had never clarify what she heard amongst the rushed words that day because she was afraid that she had misheard Ino and the bust of happiness had been nothing but a silly delusion.

Ino had looked gratified by her silence and went on with a smoother voice, if not anxiously fast. "Those assholes are stupid. They just want your attentions and have no idea how to get it. They still tried, the stupid lots and obviously, always end up saying the wrong things." Ino sent her incredulous face a pitied look. "They mess everything up and I think that's why they resent you. For making them the bad guys."

Ino made her showing her forehead and smiled at the bullies, despite her growing hatred for them. They had blushed at the first time and Sakura was left alone shortly after that.

Ino was always good with observation, Sakura had always known. She knew everyone's secrets and their feelings. She was born with the capability to deal successfully with people and never had to worry about what she would say wrong.

Unlike Sakura who wasn't born with silver tongue and always blurted out the words she would regret later.

"Don't you call Chouji fat! You don't know how hurt he is by his body!" Ino had snapped at her one day, while they were hanging out at Ino's house and Sakura had careless made a joke about Ino's other friend's size.

It was a careless mistake but perhaps, also from the suppressed jealousy Sakura had always nursed.

"I'm sorry. He's just big bone." Sakura had amended quickly because in those days, Ino was everything she had.

Ino had turned away and Sakura was convinced that Ino must have seen it, that Sakura hadn't meant her apology and there would always be darkness in her that Ino could not erase, could not burn or casted away like she had done with Sakura's old clothes.

Ino must have seen the ugliness that dwelled deep in Sakura's heart. Twisted and hideous.

It was all a bloody mess, with Sakura hating herself and unable to read Ino, to be assured that even if Sakura was evil and unforgivable, Ino would not leave her behind, wouldn't abandon her to the darkness she seemed to nuture from her childhood. Sakura was happy with Ino but she was scared all the time.

What if…? What if...? What if I am never good enough?

But Ino had remained her only friend back then and Sakura had always been glad. Absurdly glad.

"That's Sasuke Uchiha." Ino had whispered to her one day, face embarrassingly smitten and Sakura had trailed her best friend's admiring gaze to reach a boy with narrowed face and withdrawal eyes. Even his chilled smile seemed twisted with bitterness.

"He's in my science class." Sakura had told Ino and listening with amusement as Ino made a silly fool out of herself, gushing over Sasuke and his handsome face and his imaginary six abs.

Sakura knew too well Ino's guilty secret of loving beautiful things and at that time, Sasuke Uchiha was just another hot guy Ino had a crush on. Sakura had nothing to be worried about.

That's what she told herself but as time went on, unlike the other crushes in Ino's life, Sasuke Uchiha stayed.

Ino grew obsessed with him, with his wild hair and his deep eyes and everything about him.

"He's very rich." Sakura commented one day, as Ino started on another shameful discussion of why Sasuke Uchiha should rule the Seven Seas.

"Hello? Which rock did you just crawl out under? Of course, girl! Uchiha clan is like, even more powerful than the Huyga clan. Most of the politicians and government officers in Leaf are Uchiha men. They also make up the police force- Oh My God! I just had this awesome image of Sasuke in a police uniform! Oh my God! He's so hoootttt!"

Sakura slowly tore the pages of her notebook off. "Yeah, he is." She agreed cheerfully, because it would be strange to be the only girl in her grade, perhaps, even her school, who didn't fall heads over heels for an Uchiha.

Sakura had never considered herself normal though.

And that was proven when Sakura got team up in Science class with Naruto Umazaki and Sasuke Uchiha, the special place that hundreds of teenager girls in their school would have killed for.

"So Unfair! How comes you got two hot guys and I stuck with stupid Shikimaru and stupid Chouji?" Ino had whined loudly, face dejected as she got lumped with her other best friends from kindergarten.

Ino had endured Science solely for Uchiha, for the dream that she would be chosen to be on his team and now, Sakura was the chosen one.

Sakura thought that she wouldn't mind being with comfortingly familiar faces. She barely spoke more than a few words to both Umazaki and Uchiha before and she had never worked well with strangers but Sakura still grinned and did a victory dance in front of her sullen best friend.

There were not many things Sakura could surpass Ino. She had reasons to relish the joy of being the winner once in a while.

But the adrenaline of being the top, of showing that she was better than them all, that she could even surpass Ino, surpass the only girl she respected in the world became addicted and Sakura had all the reasons to loose Ino.

She just couldn't seem to accept the fact, though.

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Sai texted her that night, despite the fact that he never enjoyed sending written messages to anyone.

Sakura noticed 5 missed calls before reading the text.

"Call me ASAP." Sai wrote. "Ino Yamanaka was kidnapped."

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1 of the 5 missed calls showed Zabuza's number.

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A/N: Hello! Long time no see! My muse is back! Well, for now only but I'm glad I finished this chapter. Hopefully you all liked it. And about the transformation, er, I hate to disappoint people but Sakura won't be beautiful over night. It's impossible for me to write her as a sudden beauty and had everyone fainting on top of each other for her to step over. I did try and the result was terrible so here it is, the next chapter of slow, boring Pheromone…

La canella – Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you love it and yeah, I don't think they have a choice to not go after her. Though, it would be challenging for them since they do not know Sakura is just right under their nose.

Andelevion – Gosh! Where have you been! I love you! Finally! Someone who understood my characterization! Hope you will like this chapter too, friend!

RawrGoesDaDino – So Looong! Your review never fail to make my day. I'm glad you like the last chapter. Hopefully, you like this chapter too. Yeah, I know. I have that tendency to stop at cliffhangers… It's a curse, may be?

Don't wait up for me – Yes, it's starting but not finished yet… Hope you like it!

Ilovetimbits – Enjoys

Kerail – I'm happy that you find my stories refreshing. I do like to have original as a word to describe my fic. Actually, I love it! Thanks and enjoys the chapter.

Anon – Thanks, friend.

Sappheiros – I know you might not like this chapter but please, give it a try! I'm very happy to have some one as considerate as you to be a reader and a reviewer of Pheromone.

All in all, than you for reading and take time to review my work. You words inspired me to work harder and produce more chapters. Thank you again!

See you in the next chapter.


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